On all levels primary, and secondary and undergraduate - mathematics is taught as an isolated subject with few, if any, ties to the real world. To students, mathematics appears to deal almost entirely with things whlch are of no concern at all to man.

Statistics: the mathematical theory of ignorance.

Psychologically, the teaching of abstractions first is wrong. Indeed, a thorough understanding of the concrete must precede the abstract.

Actually, most mathematics courses do not teach reasoning of any kind. Students are so baffled by the material that they are obliged to memorize in order to pass examinations.

Mathematics is a body of knowledge, but it contains no truths.

A proof tells us where to concentrate our doubts.

Universities hire professors the way some men choose wives - they want the ones the others will admire.