Blog Response #4: A Man Left Albuquerque Heading East: Word Problems as Genre in Mathematics Education

 Before my response I would like to share my understanding on the following concepts: pure vs applied mathematics, practicality and abstraction. When it comes to applied mathematics, I believe it is the use of the mathematical tools of the current time to solve problems one is faced with. For example, in the world today, math is applied in fields like engineering and accounting. From the reading we see that the Babylonians used the methods of their time to solve “practical situations encountered in the day-to-day working life” (Gerofsky, 2004, pg. 116), they even used their tools “to express abstract mathematical ideas” (Gerofsky, 2004, pg. 119). This leads me to explain my understanding of pure mathematics. Here, math tools are studied to discover more efficient tools. Again, this definition is explained in the reading, through the Greek mathematicians known for “extending mathematics and devising new methods” (Gerofsky, 2004, pg. 118). From the above definitions, one can then understand that practicality means math being used for day-to-day uses, and abstraction as math used in ways to explore ideas that are not necessarily used in real world situations. 

I remember the time when I encountered my first ancient Babylonian word problem in the Math History for Teachers course. The first thing I did was to try translating the problem into a form I understood, using algebraic tools. Therefore, I believe that when trying to understand ancient Babylonian mathematical word problems today, one should have the knowledge of contemporary algebra. To put in terms of abstraction and practicality; the Babylonian problem I encountered initially looked abstract, but with the use of algebraic tools, it seemed more practical. This leads me to the question of how the ideas I mentioned above relate to the history of mathematics. Specifically, Babylonian mathematics. 


I think I am understanding how Babylonian word problems evolved into algebra. Of course, in their time the Babylonians used their methods to solve their day-to-day problems, but by using pure mathematics, mathematicians after the Babylonians started studying these problems to find more efficient methods to solve these problems, so I think throughout the years it has developed to what we know today as Algebra, which I think is so interesting! 


I remember being frustrated at word problems when I was a High School student, I always wondered what the point was. But now learning about how the Babylonians used to tackle world problems has impressed me. I am fascinated by their creativity and structure, and I am also more curious about what their point of view or context was like when creating these ideas. 

References 

Gerofsky, S. (2004). Chapter 7: The History of the Word Problem Genre. A Man Left Albuquerque Heading East: Word Problems as Genre in Mathematics Education (First Edition, pp. 113-120). Peter Lang. 

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