Nappanee High School - Napanet Yearbook (Nappanee, IN)

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CLAYTON BLESSING Clayton, the Blessing of the class of 1907, was born .July 29, 1887, one mile north and one mile west of Nappanee. To him certainly belongs great credit for his continuing his education at all costs. lie linished his grade work in the country and entered the Nappanee high school where he has obtained the highest grades in everything. He certainly appreciates the advantages of an education and is drinking deep from the fountain of learning. He has a great future of possibilities before him.

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®V Naturr attft Halit? nf iflatljmattrH By CLAYTON BLESSING ATTIEM A TICS arose out of necessity: it was not complete when it began: nor was it a well spun theory in the minds of our forefathers. Thales, Heraclitus and Pythagoras were less versed in mathematics than men of the 20th century. These men were in the dark and groping, stretching and feeling their way from darkness to light while we today have the heritage of all their mistakes and advances. As necessity is the mother of invention, so to a very large extent it is the mother of mathematics. For an example of this let us look at Babylon. Through her continual shifting of territory as the results of war and the continual readjustment of boundary lines she became the fertile soil of mathematics. Look also at her sister country Egypt who under like conditions added to the development of mathematics. The term mathematics is derived from the Latin, (mathematica),or the Greek,(mathematik), learning. As th6 form of the word indicates it is not a single branch but a group of several branches. Many people consider it a dry, uninteresting subject, probably on account of its not being easily comprehended or the language used being too concise. The three elementary branches of mathematics are Arithmetic, Algebra and Geometry. As the foundation is to a house so these are to the higher branches of mathematics. Arithmetic is tlie science of numbers and the art of computing with them. It is one of the purest products of human thought. It was aided in its growth by the rarest minds of antiquity and enriched by the thought of the profoundest thinkers. Like geometry it embraces ideas and truths. These ideas give rise to detinitions and the truths are expressed in axioms and theorems. It may be divided into two divisions, mental and written. Mental arithmetic has become one of the most popular studies of the public schools, nearly everybody uses it to a greater or less extent. Especially do you find this the case with those who received their education in the public schools of twenty-five or thirty years ago. When a farmer sells or buys anything of small account the calculation is made mentally, for he seldom carries pencil and paper. It certainly is a great accomplishment to be able to calculate correctly without pencil and paper as it creates quickness of perception, keenness of insight and an intellectual power and grasp that can be acquired by no other study. Written arithmetic is closely allied to mental arid is probably used just as much. Merchants use it almost altogether because they have too much calculation or too many accounts. It would be impossible for them to remember all the calculations and accounts, while if they have it written in a book this serves as their memory. It is said that numbers never lie, which is undoubtedly true, so they have this one branch of mathematics, namely, written arithmetic, to rely on as the key to all their business transactions. It is nearly indispensable to all men of business. Algebra is that branch of mathematics that investigates quantity by means of general characters called symbols. The term originated among the Arabs and comes from (al-gabr), a reduction of parts to a whole. In its elements it is similar to arithmetic having addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and fractions as well as many other operations like those in arithmetic. It had its origin in arithmetic and its fundamental ideas and operations are arithmetical: but from it many ideas and processes arise which have no meaning in arithmetic, as: negative and imaginary quantities, the solution of higher equations, etc. The combination of algebraic symbols leads to expressions called formulas, in which the operations are indicated rather than performed. These formulas often express a general truth corresponding to a theorem, which arithmetic can verify in particular cases as: the quantity a plus b multiplied by the quantity a minus b equals the quantity a square minus b square. Not until one has had training in algebra can he fully realize the great benefit he received in simplifying and making clear some of the problems in arithmetic and even in practical life which are generally termed “catchy.” The term geometry is derived from (ge), the earth and (metron) a measure and means literally a measuring of the earth. But as we study it we do not think of its ever having simply this meaning. It begins with the primary ideas of space and the self-evident truths arising from them, and from these as a basis arises to the higher truth by a process of reasoning. The self-evident truths or axioms give some of the truths with which we start and also the laws which guide us in the reasoning process. From these as a basis we trace our way, step by step, to the loftiest and most beautiful truth of science. It ranks among the first of all studies for the dis- 17