Garinger High School - Snips and Cuts Yearbook (Charlotte, NC)

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Application of Math Twofold 26

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from history 77 “We learn from history that we learn nothing from history.” —George Wilhelm Fredrick Hegel In this concise statement we are able to see the irony of historic events, as it reminds us how men repeatedly have deemed it necessary to war, and then inevitably re-learn the price of defeat, or victory; how they rediscover the frequent burden of loyalty and the seeming futility of rebellion. Still all of this redundancy is not foolishness, but, instead, an insight into the nature of the individual, that he must experience his own hardships, make his own mistakes. Otherwise his existence would become a mere lesson concerning the past affairs of both living and dying. History courses, while covering various materials, all seem to be expos¬ ing this factor of man’s nature and are lessons, not of widom passed on, but of precise examples involving this characteristic. It is this open awareness which is the true wisdom to be gained. Naturally, the more interested students will best see this, but everyone has it laid before him, either to pick up, or walk over. From lessons in obedience and its benefits taught from the Bible, through courses on the development of to¬ day’s world, taught in Current Events, World History and American environment, taught in Economics and Sociology, the student is offered a precious insight he need never and could never obtain through experi¬ ence. Historian Charles A. Beard used this insight to observe the following on the subject of history: “1.) When it gets darkest, the stars come out. 2. ) When a bee steals from a flower it also fertilizes it. 3. ) Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad with power. 4. ) Though the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceedingly small.” “Mr. Edwards, do you have a heart?” 25

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“Certain characteristics of the subject are clear. To begin with, we do not, in this subject, deal with particular things or particular proper¬ ties: we deal formally with what can be said about ‘Any’ thing or ‘any’ property.” — Bertrand Russell While all mathematics courses provide a pro¬ gressive insight into the realm of logic and reason, there are two distinct ends for the student’s ef¬ forts. The first is the exposure of mathematics in everyday life, found in the practicality of such courses as General Mathematics I, II, and III. The second aim, perhaps more indirect to its end, is college preparation. From the angles of Eu¬ clidean geometry, to the theorems of advanced studies, these courses prepare the pupil for greater involvement in the field of mathematics. Still, general mathematics offers just as much logic, of another kind. 27