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160 pages

English

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Odd Words, Even Numbers refers to the fact that standards of numeracy at all levels appear to be in decline. It proposes that by treating numeracy as a vital aspect of literacy we might be able to arrest this fall in standards. The main purpose is to stimulate and entertain readers of all ages which the author attempts to achieve by showing how we use the English language to describe a selection of mathematical concepts; by explaining many mathematical games and diversions; and by including a large number of word puzzles and mathematical puzzles each of which demonstrates the close interrelationship between words and numbers.

Sujets

Sciences et techniques

Popular mathematics

Popular science

Number system

Number theory

Mathematics

Informations

Publié par	Thorogood Publishing
Date de parution	31 octobre 2016
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781854188885
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	3 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,1000€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

ODD WORDS, EVEN NUMBERS

A Melange of Words and Numbers

Ian Paterson

Published by Thorogood
10-12 Rivington Street
London EC2A 3DU
Telephone: 020 7749 4748 Fax: 020 7729 6110
Email: info@thorogood.co.uk
Web: www.thorogood.co.uk
© Ian Paterson 2016
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed upon the subsequent purchaser.
No responsibility for loss occasioned to any person acting or refraining from action as a result of any material in this publication can be accepted by the author or publisher.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN paperback: 9781854188878
ISBN eBook: 9781854188885
Designed and typeset by Driftdesign: www.getyourdrift.com

Contents
Abbreviations5
INTRODUCTION 7
1 THAT’S ODD! 15
2 NUMBERS, NUMERALS, INTEGERS, DIGITS, FIGURES, UNITS and AND23
3 SERIES and SEQUENCES29
4 SPELLING NUMBERS 35
5 SILENT LETTERS, SILENT NUMBERS39
6 NUMBER INTO WORD AND WORD INTO NUMBER49
7 INDIVISIBILITY and DIVISIBILITY 59
8 MATRICES 69
9 TIME AND NUMBER NINE75
10 NUMBER CONFUSION AND LARGE NUMBERS79
10½ SOME MORE PREFIXES 85
11 MULTIPLICATION AND NUMBER ELEVEN89
12 DOZEN 99
13 NUMBER THIRTEEN105
14 SOME DIVERSIONS INVOLVING WORDS AND NUMBERS109
15 NON-SPECIFIC NUMBERS 117
16 NUMBERS AND WORDS IN DISGUISE 125
17 ORIGINS AND CATEGORIES OF NUMBER WORDS 133
18 NUMBER AND ITS B145
19 NUMBER OR WORD? 153
20 PYRAMID PUZZLES 159
21 MAGIC SQUARES167
22 SOME TRIVIAL CONNECTIONS173
23 NUMBERS WITHIN NUMBERS, WORDS WITHIN WORDS 181
24 REVERSALS AND PALINDROMES 191
25 ALL THE LETTERS AND ALL THE NUMBERS199
26 FIBONACCI SEQUENCE203
ANSWERS: A to Z209
PROOFS AND EXPLANATIONS219
GLOSSARY225
BIBLIOGRAPHY229
INDEX253
NOTES AND WORKINGS257

Abbreviations
IE
Indo-European
Fowler 0
Modern English Usage (Third Edition)
GK
Greek
L
Latin
ME
Middle English
Ob
Obsolete
OE
Old English
OED
Oxford English Dictionary on CD-ROM (Version 4.0)
OF
Old French

For Dylan, Joe, Archie, Ava, Orlando and Lyla

INTRODUCTION
This book was prompted by an urge to demonstrate that an ability to work with numbers is a vital constituent of literacy. We often refer to literacy and numeracy as if they were two separate languages, the speakers of which cannot effectively communicate with each other. More particularly, we rarely treat numeracy as a requirement of literacy.
Perhaps this compartmentalisation arises as a result of the notion which we pick up very early on from the school curriculum, namely, that learning to read, on the one hand, and learning to count, on the other, are quite distinct activities with little overlap. The apparent lack of interaction between the two disciplines makes it easier for so many of us to go through our secondary education prepared to admit to being innumerate. It is not hard to come across folk who are keen to boast of this affliction regarding matters mathematical. A quick search on Google of the phrase “I can’t do math” reveals more than 64 million results. And yet it is difficult to come across anyone who is proud to broadcast the fact that he or she is illiterate. Indeed, many of those who have reading problems devise cunning stratagems to avoid having to reveal their inability whereas the mathematically challenged very often go out of their way to trumpet the fact.
This concern is not merely one of impression. Sir Peter Williams tells us in his Independent Review of Mathematics Teaching in Early Years Settings and Primary Schools: Final Report June 2008 , page 3, that:
“Since the National Numeracy Strategy (NNS) was introduced almost a decade ago, there has been considerable progress in the attainment of young learners in mathematics…Nevertheless, issues regarding the teaching and learning of mathematics remain, and the United Kingdom is still one of the few advanced nations where it is socially acceptable – fashionable, even – to profess an inability to cope with the subject.”
A report in May 2010 by the Chief Estyn Inspector found that 53 per cent of adults in Wales had numeracy skills below the level of an 11-year-old.
A report by KPMG in January 2009 estimated that the long-term cost of children leaving school innumerate could be as high as £44,000 per person up to the age of 37, giving rise to a bill for taxpayers of £2.4 billion every year. Much of this cost arises from the fact that those who are innumerate are more likely to become unemployed or to drift into crime. In addition, there is the cost of providing numeracy support in our schools.
In an article in The Guardian in May 2010, Digby Jones points out that a third of the adult population cannot add together two 3-figure numbers.
A 2011 survey reported by a new charity, National Numeracy, shows that, of those assessed as having an ability at Level 2 (roughly equal to GCSE grades A to C), 57 per cent achieved that level in literacy, but only 22 per cent in numeracy. In February 2012 National Numeracy reported that the position is becoming worse in that almost half of the working-age population in England is barely numerate. Apparently, some 17 million adults in England have a mathematical ability equivalent to that of a primary school child.
There is a strong cohort of opinion that the study of mathematics in England should be made compulsory to age 18. In a report in June 2014, Vision for Science and Mathematics Education , The Royal Society advocated a baccalaureate system in place of the A-level system arguing that: “Mathematics has relevance not only across the sciences but also in arts and humanities and to people’s everyday lives and further career aspirations.” According to The Royal Society, only 13 per cent of young people in the UK study mathematics beyond 16 and it has been estimated that at least one in four economically active adults is functionally innumerate.
Some argue that universities should include a post-16 maths qualification in their standard entry requirements.
The Department of Education has gone some way to acknowledge such concerns and to address the trend by announcing in December 2014, as part of its commitment to raise standards, the introduction in 2017 of six new core maths qualifications. These have been designed to encourage more pupils to study beyond the age of 16 where, according to the Department of Education, only one fifth of pupils in England continue to study maths at any level after achieving GCSE – the lowest level of 24 developed countries.
Even more disturbing is the study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, published in January 2016, entitled Building Skills for All: A Review of England by reference to data collected in 2012, which found that young people in England are the most illiterate and nearly the most innumerate in the developed world. The OECD’s report ranked English teenagers second from last out of 23 developed countries in numeracy; in literacy, the position was found to be even worse. They came last in a list of 23 developed nations headed by South Korea, Japan and the Netherlands. Of 16- to 19-year-olds in England, only 71.4 per cent are in formal education and training which is the lowest percentage in all of the developed countries looked at in the report. This goes on to tell us that England has more university students with weak literacy and numeracy skills than most countries.
Although pensioners and those near to retirement were among the highest- ranked of their age group, the prevalence of illiteracy and innumeracy is apparently not limited to young people. The OECD study goes on to say that there are an estimated nine million people of working age in England (more than a quarter of adults aged 16 to 65) with low literacy or numeracy skills or both.
We see, thus, a constant flow of criticism concerning the failure of the educational system to raise the level of mathematical skill of students in England as compared with other developed nations. One of the OECD’s recommendations is that priority should be given to early intervention to ensure that all young people have stronger basic skills.
In his book Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and its Consequences (Viking, 1998) John Paulos emphasises how innumeracy pervades both our private and public lives and has a number of serious consequences including:
• a tendency towards indulging in “pseudo-science” and sloppy thought;
• a tendency to be misled by our own experiences;
• a tendency towards accepting dubious propositions or scams;
• financial ineptitude;
• hazardous gambling habits; a miscalculation in risk-taking.