Like preludes, prefaces are usually composed last. Putting them in the front of the book is a feeble reflection of what, in the style of mathe matics treatises and textbooks, I usually call thf didactical inversion: to be fit to print, the way to the result should be the inverse of the order in which it was found; in particular the key definitions, which were the finishing touch to the structure, are put at the front. For many years I have contrasted the didactical inversion with the thought-experiment. It is true that you should not communicate your mathematics to other people in the way it occurred to you, but rather as it could have occurred to you if you had known then what you know now, and as it would occur to the student if his learning process is being guided. This in fact is the gist of the lesson Socrates taught Meno's slave. The thought-experi ment tries to find out how a student could re-invent what he is expected to learn. I said about the preface that it is a feeble reflection of the didactical inversion. Indeed, it is not a constituent part of the book. It can even be torn out. Yet it is useful. Firstly, to the reviewer who then need not read the whole work, and secondly to the author himself, who like the composer gets an opportunity to review the Leitmotivs of the book.
Product Identifiers
Publisher
Springer
ISBN-13
9789027702357
eBay Product ID (ePID)
95280487
Product Key Features
Author
Hans Freudenthal
Publication Name
Mathematics As an Educational Task
Format
Hardcover
Language
English
Subject
Mathematics, Teaching
Publication Year
1972
Type
Textbook
Number of Pages
680 Pages
Dimensions
Item Height
235mm
Item Width
155mm
Item Weight
2530g
Additional Product Features
Title_Author
Hans Freudenthal
Country/Region of Manufacture
Netherlands
Best Selling in Adult Learning & University
Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- Best Selling in Adult Learning & University