Mathematics Rap

Mr. Harold Wardrop, Head of Math, presented several awards today in Assembly to students who had fared well in external math contests (see tomorrow’s article for details). Before the medals, certificates, and feting, he delivered this rap proving that at Brentwood, everyone respects the power of the spoken word. May it give you infinite pleasure. ;-) Mathematics Rap  I know some of you have asked yourself, “Why do I need this crap? Whose sadistic vision decided this torturous fate, this date with cardinality? Where is the empathy for someone like me? Someone who struggles to see The necessity. Just give me a dose of reality, teach me the utility and move on. My teacher drones on about algebra and all I can think about is that I wish he would use a variable tone in his voice and move on.” Archimedes submerges in his tub. Newton palms an apple to his head. Mandelbrot systematically bursts into the infinite. How can you be so unaware? Stand on the shoulders of giants and for a moment stare through the eyes of Newton and Leibnitz. Then you’ll truly know what it means to move on. But be careful my friends, it is a slippery slope once you realize that mathematics is integral to everything you know - from the joys of your texting thumb, to the beats through your Bose. Personally, mathematics gives me a rhythmic beating in my chest Thump, Thump, Thump-Thump, Thump-Thump-Thump, … And Fibonacci himself would immediately stop in his tracks and connect this beat to the spirals in a sunflower’s seeds, to the twist of a nautilus shell, to the petals of a flower. Why do you study mathematics? Some believe that it is a human invention imagined by our brains to explain our world. But others believe that everything we experience in this world, the sun, the stars, the plants, the animals, light, sound EVERYTHING is mathematical at its core  And our brains are simply putting order to it all and unveiling all of its truths. Or lies. Who can really tell? But it is so good at describing our reality; who would dare deny its functionality? So I look around and see that texting thumb and that brain so numb. And you say, “Why do I have to study this crap?” Well you need to decide. Will you open your eyes to the world around you? Will you learn the system of numbers?  Or will you simply become …a number in the system? Mr. Harold Wardrop, Head of Mathematics