Fun With Math? Yes, Indeed.
By Allen A. Raymond, Publisher

I have a vivid memory of only two of my elementary school teachers. The first was my fourth grade teacher, whose only claim to fame was that she frequently lost her cool in dealing with me. Her solution was to have me sit in the hall.

She was quite a change from my third grade teacher who, one morning on our way to school, let me hang on the back bumper of her car – I was on roller skates – as she towed me to school.

In high school I hit the teaching jackpot; Mr. Verrill hooked me on writing and Mr. Tuthill hooked me on math.

My memory of Mr. Tuthill's math class is one of the reasons I always look forward to our annual January math issue. I know I'll learn something new.

For instance, in Michael Naylor's math column, beginning this month on page 33, I first learned about the "The Bridges of Konigsburg" located in a city once called Konigsburg (now Kaliningrad), a small Russian village founded by the Teutonic Knights in 1255.

Konigsburg is best known for a math puzzle associated with its seven bridges over the Pregel River (see diagram on page 34). The challenge, which the villagers never solved – it can't be solved because it can't be done – was to walk around town while crossing all seven bridges only once.

A man named Leonhard Euler (1707-1783) proved there was no such path, and came up with the rule (theorem) that states: There exists a path (at least one) on a graph which travels along each arc exactly once if, and only if, the graph has at most two vertices of odd degree.

But, you may wonder, why call what appears to be a map of a river and seven bridges a "graph." When I think of graphs I have pictures in my mind of bar charts on graph paper.

But when mathematicians draw lines and connect them to each other, while it may look like a map to a layman like me, to a mathematician it's a graph (in the case of the Konigsburg example, a route we follow). The lines become arcs and the points where the lines intersect are called a vertex, or a "node." The lines, by the way, are called "edges." And if you want to know more (as I did), just type "graph theory" on your web browser. It's an adventure.

For instance, you'll learn about "The Traveling Salesman Problem," which shows you how to calculate the shortest route that will allow you to stop in several cities exactly once while keeping travel distance to a minimum.

Or, under "Graph Theory Tutorials," you can discover how may colors it takes to color a map so that no two countries that share a common border have the same color. This tutorial also explains how to turn a map into a graph.

Math is not only challenging – it is also fun. For instance, type "math fun" in your web browser and you'll be up all night exploring Brilliant Mental Math, Fun Mathematics Lessons – and on and on and on and on.

But, enough.

While I'll never be a teacher – and it's too late to begin now – it is comforting to know there are committed, enthusiastic teachers like you who are always there for our kids.

Allen Raymond is the Editor/Publisher for Teaching Pre K-8.