Your Inner Number Cruncher

Do you remember the moment you lost your love for — even your basic interest in — mathematics? Was it when you first saw a decimal? A fraction? Long division? I still love math, but I am the standard deviation, not the norm. Mathematics is a universal way to communicate, to solve problems, to see and understand beauty. It is also the language of the future. I apologize for whoever harmed mathematics for you. I’m sorry that person stole something so magical, so powerful from you.

I’m not alone in my thinking. John Mighton — the award-winning author, playwright, and mathematician — believes most people can learn anything. And he believes you, too, can learn mathematics, no matter how little you think you know when it comes to numbers. What’s more, he wants you to fall in love with the subject’s beauty — and unlearn whatever it is that school made you think way back when.

After graduating from the University of Toronto with a degree in philosophy, in 1978...