Book Review: The Math Myth

 Recently I read a book because I knew that it would challenge me. While the language was a little bit more thesaurus-like than I usually read, it was more the content that I challenged myself with. This book was The Math Myth and Other STEM Delusions by Andrew Hacker, a professor of mathematics.

First, let me say, I am a strong proponent of math (and STEM in general) education, and it's a huge part of my job. I also love math, and it was a really big reason that I picked engineering over pure science (not to say there isn't math in biology, it's just different). So I expected this book to challenge my views on how people should be taught mathematics.

I actually found myself agreeing with most of the book. My biggest stumbling block was the section where it talked about there being too many STEM graduates, over what I've always heard of there not being enough. They presented a set of compelling statistics, from seemingly trustworthy sources. The book is a few years old, but also that's the last time I really dived into the data. So I guess I've got some investigating to do.

Otherwise I agree with stuff like, oh, we should teach job skill math, rather than assuming everyone needs advanced algebra and trig, or oh, there should be a better emphasis on real world uses of math, like stats as they are presented in the news. I personally use computer literacy as a STEM skill much more than I use math, even statistics (most used). My most common math is simple arithmetic, mostly in excel, something I learned at a young age.

Overall a good book. I'd recommend it to anyone in STEM, STEM education, or education in general.