From Helen Prochazka's Scrapbook.

Creativity

Screenwriter, John Brendan, writes about the link between mathematics and creativity.

"We know mathematics instinctively. Our brain, our memory, our senses work by determining the patterns they encounter--then organising them for survival, work, play, beauty, and satisfaction.

All artistic expression in music, in dance, in pictures--is patterning. Creativity is the mathematical fusion of all parts of our brain--the instinctive and the logical, the emotional and the intellectual, the left and the right. Creativity is the process of taking an ability in hearing, sight, touch, smell, taste, or movement, and applying patterns to make a leap of the imagination.

Most probably, life itself is a patterning device. The very chemicals of which we are made exhibit a multitude of patterns. It is the patterns that give meaning to our lives. When the patterns in life are lost, we see the world as meaningless or chaotic.

The study of mathematics quantifies that which we already have experienced and know."

Mathematics Disorder

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) is a standard reference for psychiatrists and other mental health professionals, and describes all recognised mental disorders.

DSM-IV, the fourth edition of the manual, lists Mathematics Disorder as a mental health problem! The disorder relates to a 'patient's mathematical ability' and its DSM code is 315.1.

Egan Chernoff on Twitter

"Second languages, and that includes mathematics, will make your brain stronger."

Leon Seitelman, mathematician

"Mathematics is vital to the national interest. Strong mathematical capability on a national scale is essential for industrial and technological leadership."