ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Arthur Benjamin - Mathemagician
Using daring displays of algorithmic trickery, lightning calculator and number wizard Arthur Benjamin mesmerizes audiences with mathematical mystery and beauty.

Why you should listen

Arthur Benjamin makes numbers dance. In his day job, he's a professor of math at Harvey Mudd College; in his other day job, he's a "Mathemagician," taking the stage in his tuxedo to perform high-speed mental calculations, memorizations and other astounding math stunts. It's part of his drive to teach math and mental agility in interesting ways, following in the footsteps of such heroes as Martin Gardner.

Benjamin is the co-author, with Michael Shermer, of Secrets of Mental Math (which shares his secrets for rapid mental calculation), as well as the co-author of the MAA award-winning Proofs That Really Count: The Art of Combinatorial Proof. For a glimpse of his broad approach to math, see the list of research talks on his website, which seesaws between high-level math (such as his "Vandermonde's Determinant and Fibonacci SAWs," presented at MIT in 2004) and engaging math talks for the rest of us ("An Amazing Mathematical Card Trick").

More profile about the speaker
Arthur Benjamin | Speaker | TED.com
TED2009

Arthur Benjamin: Teach statistics before calculus!

Formula Arthura Benjamina za promenu obrazovnog programa matematike

Filmed:
2,625,810 views

Neko se uvek nadje da pita profesora matematike: "Da li ce meni izvodi i integrali biti potrebni u zivotu?". Za mnoge od nas, kaze Arthur Benjamin, odgovor je ne. On izlaze smeo predlog kako da matematika u skolama postane relevantija u danasnjem digitalnom svetu.
- Mathemagician
Using daring displays of algorithmic trickery, lightning calculator and number wizard Arthur Benjamin mesmerizes audiences with mathematical mystery and beauty. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:12
Now, if President Obama
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Ako bi me kojim slucajem predsednik Obama
00:15
invited me to be the next Czar of Mathematics,
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pozvao da ja budem sledeci Car matematike,
00:19
then I would have a suggestion for him
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ja bih imao predlog za njega
00:22
that I think would vastly improve
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za koji mislim da bi u mnogome mogao da poboljsa
00:24
the mathematics education in this country.
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predavanje matematike u skolama u ovoj zemlji.
00:27
And it would be easy to implement
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Koji bi bio lak da se implementira
00:29
and inexpensive.
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i jeftin.
00:31
The mathematics curriculum that we have
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Matematicki program koji trenutno imamo
00:33
is based on a foundation of arithmetic and algebra.
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je baziran na osnovama aritmetike i algebre.
00:37
And everything we learn after that
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I sve sto ucimo posle toga
00:39
is building up towards one subject.
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ide u pravcu razvijanja ka jednoj oblasti matematike.
00:42
And at top of that pyramid, it's calculus.
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I na vrhu te piramide je Analiza (tj. Diferencijalni i integralni racun).
00:46
And I'm here to say
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Ja vam ovde sada kazem
00:48
that I think that that is the wrong summit of the pyramid ...
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da ja mislim da je to pogresan vrh piramide ...
00:52
that the correct summit -- that all of our students,
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i da je oblast matematike, koju bi svaki student
00:54
every high school graduate should know --
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i svaki srednjoskolac trebalo da zna,
00:56
should be statistics:
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jeste Statistika.
00:59
probability and statistics.
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Verovatnoca i statistika.
01:01
(Applause)
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(aplauz)
01:03
I mean, don't get me wrong. Calculus is an important subject.
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Mislim, nemojete pogresno da me shvatite. Analiza je jako bitna oblast matematike.
01:07
It's one of the great products of the human mind.
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i vazi za veliki uspeh ljudskog roda.
01:09
The laws of nature are written in the language of calculus.
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I prirodni zakoni su napisani kroz izvode i integrale.
01:13
And every student who studies math, science, engineering, economics,
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I svaki student koji studira matematiku, prirodne nauke, inzinjerstvo, ekonomiju,
01:17
they should definitely learn calculus
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mora da zna Analizu
01:19
by the end of their freshman year of college.
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do kraja prve godine fakulteta.
01:21
But I'm here to say, as a professor of mathematics,
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Ali ja sam ovde da vam kazem, kao profesor matematike,
01:24
that very few people actually use calculus
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da vrlo malo ljudi koristi izvode i integrale
01:28
in a conscious, meaningful way, in their day-to-day lives.
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na svestan, smislen nacin u svakodnevnom zivotu,
01:31
On the other hand,
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Sa druge strane,
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statistics -- that's a subject that you could,
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Statistika je oblast koju mozete,
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and should, use on daily basis. Right?
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i koji bi trebalo da koristite na svakodnevnoj osnovi, zar ne?
01:39
It's risk. It's reward. It's randomness.
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Statistika se bavi rizikom, mogucnosti dobitka, slucajnostima,
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It's understanding data.
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razumevanju podataka.
01:44
I think if our students, if our high school students --
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Ja mislim da ako bi nasi studenti, ako bi nasi srednjoskolci,
01:46
if all of the American citizens --
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ako bi svi gradjani u SAD,
01:48
knew about probability and statistics,
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znali o verovatnoci i statistici,
01:51
we wouldn't be in the economic mess that we're in today. (Laughter) (Applause)
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mi ne bi bili u ovoj ekonomskoj krizi u kojoj smo danas.
01:54
Not only -- thank you -- not only that ...
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Ne samo -- hvala -- ne samo to ...
01:57
but if it's taught properly, it can be a lot of fun.
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[ali] ako bi se predavalo na pravi nacin, moze da bude vrlo zabavno.
02:00
I mean, probability and statistics,
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Mislim, verovatnoca i statistika
02:02
it's the mathematics of games and gambling.
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je matematika igara i kockanja,
02:06
It's analyzing trends. It's predicting the future.
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analiziranja trendova pa i predvidjanja buducnosti.
02:10
Look, the world has changed
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Pazite ovako ... svet se promenio
02:12
from analog to digital.
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od analognog ka digitalnom.
02:15
And it's time for our mathematics curriculum to change
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I vreme je da se i nas program matematike promeni
02:18
from analog to digital,
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od analognog ka digitalnom.
02:20
from the more classical, continuous mathematics,
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Sa dosadasnje klasicne kontinualne matematike,
02:24
to the more modern, discrete mathematics --
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na moderniju, diskretnu matematiku.
02:27
the mathematics of uncertainty,
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Matematiku neodredjenosti,
02:29
of randomness, of data --
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slucajnosti, podataka --
02:31
that being probability and statistics.
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a sve je to Verovatnoca i statistika.
02:34
In summary, instead of our students
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Kao zakljucak, umesto da studenti
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learning about the techniques of calculus,
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uce o izvodima i integralima,
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I think it would be far more significant
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mislim da bi bilo mnogo vaznije
02:42
if all of them knew what two standard deviations
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kad bi svi znali sta znaci odstupanje od dve standarne devijacije
02:45
from the mean means. And I mean it.
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od srednje vrednosti.
02:48
Thank you very much.
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Hvala puno.
02:50
(Applause)
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(Aplauz)
Translated by Nenad Bozinovic
Reviewed by Jelena Ban

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Arthur Benjamin - Mathemagician
Using daring displays of algorithmic trickery, lightning calculator and number wizard Arthur Benjamin mesmerizes audiences with mathematical mystery and beauty.

Why you should listen

Arthur Benjamin makes numbers dance. In his day job, he's a professor of math at Harvey Mudd College; in his other day job, he's a "Mathemagician," taking the stage in his tuxedo to perform high-speed mental calculations, memorizations and other astounding math stunts. It's part of his drive to teach math and mental agility in interesting ways, following in the footsteps of such heroes as Martin Gardner.

Benjamin is the co-author, with Michael Shermer, of Secrets of Mental Math (which shares his secrets for rapid mental calculation), as well as the co-author of the MAA award-winning Proofs That Really Count: The Art of Combinatorial Proof. For a glimpse of his broad approach to math, see the list of research talks on his website, which seesaws between high-level math (such as his "Vandermonde's Determinant and Fibonacci SAWs," presented at MIT in 2004) and engaging math talks for the rest of us ("An Amazing Mathematical Card Trick").

More profile about the speaker
Arthur Benjamin | Speaker | TED.com