An inspirational, committed, capable teacher. Now why didn't someone think of that before? WFL On 8/27/11, Veit Elser <ve10@cornell.edu> wrote:
I'm going to jump in with a defense of my teachers (1960's San Jose public schools).
My 7th grade teacher, Mr. Juel, showed us how you could prove an infinite number of facts with a finite amount of work. His favorite example was the sum of consecutive cubes -- it's always a perfect square! That got me hooked. Infinity was a hot topic, and we would argue endlessly about what it "meant".
In 8th grade, Mrs. Coffee gave me one of Martin Gardner's books. It was a present she just decided to give me. I don't think I had done anything special to deserve it.
It's true that later on (high school) I had a stream of less inspired math teachers*. But by then it didn't matter anymore. I believe those random mechanisms are still at work today, even if we don't immediately recognize them. Consider Vi Hart's doodles.
Veit
*Some were actual drill sergeants.