Mathematical Intelligence: What We Have that Machines Don't

This book is for those who want to understand why in a world full of apocalyptic warnings concerning the advent of artificial intelligence, there is plenty of hope for the future of our children and grandchildren. We simply need to push for change in the way they are taught mathematics and open their heads to thinking mathematically for themselves. Junaid Mubeen explains and illustrates seven elements of mathematical intelligence in the form of five ways of thinking and two ways of working which for the time being at least machines have not been able to emulate. These human strengths need to be nurtured by our maths teachers because they are so complementary to the calculating prowess of computers which it is pointless for us to seek to rival.When I was growing up, the emphasis, sadly, of my teachers was on arithmetic and formulae and times tables. I was lucky enough not to suffer from maths anxiety, I was able easily to master this level of numeracy but sadly I missed all the wider scope for problem solving which a superb mathematician/teacher/writer like Junaid could have revealed to me. Teachers need to realise that students have little basis for imagining how mathematical procedures can be deployed to solve problems in the real world, in Junaid’s terms how useful mathematical ways of thinking can be. Curriculum authorities must work out how better to teach problem solving approaches and to examine students’ mathematical intelligence in addition to testing their procedural knowledge.This book has whetted my appetite to hear more from Junaid about his ideas in this regard. Detailed as the references in “Mathematical Intelligence” are, there are a few occasions where Junaid leaves loose ends (e.g. Gödel’s proof and Ramanujan’s infinity summation), and he would do well to explain how inventive mathematical thinking demonstrated by famous mathematicians like these is actually now being used in solving a plethora of 21st century day-to-day problems for us all. That aside, this is a fascinating and easily accessible guide to how mathematics itself may be utilised by humans in the race against (or with) the machines.