Atlanta High School - Atalanta Yearbook (Atlanta, IL)

Page 21 text:

-19 MATHEMATICS The practical use of higher mathematics after a student has left school is negligible so it is compulsory to take but very little of this sutjest. True, we could not get along without all of the types of engineers we have, but these men. are-in the minority, so higher mathematics should not be made compulsory for jits practical value after high school. However, the real value of mathematics lies not in the- knowledge of how to extract the root of an equation, nor in knowing the •properties of a aphere, but in the fact that it teaches the student to be logical. It jteaches him to organize his thoughts and to jpursue one thought until he has reached a' ;v-.u (conclusion instead of hinting around in the •dark and hoping it will come out all right. Work in mathematics shows that there is p reason behind everything, rnd that one jShruld have, a reason for everything he does. If everyone was taught to think logicallv -t.d constructively, and the fact that there is' • reason for everything was brought home to veryone, our high schools would turn out much letter men and wemen. I As mathematics is the only subject unin- fluenced by the inconsistent antics of man, it ehould tr taught to every high school student. I