The Popularization of Mathematics

INTRODUCTION

The aim of the popularisation of mathematics is to influence the perception which people have of the subject. Since this perception differs in different sections of the community, it is firstly important to identify a target audience and then to seek to understand the nature and origins of the views which they have of mathematics. Blanket attempts at popularisation based on the perceptions which mathematicians have of their subject are unlikely to succeed.

In this paper, some factors associated with the popularisation of mathematics among the Maori people, the original inhabitants of New Zealand, are considered. It is likely that similar, but not necessarily the same, factors will pertain to other ethnic minorities with no strong formal mathematical tradition.

It will be argued that the Maori people have been culturally alienated from mathematics and that attempts to overcome this must go beyond the superficial introduction of elements of Maori culture into a traditional presentation of mathematics. Initiatives, by the Maori themselves, firmly based in their own culture have much more potential.

BACKGROUND

The Maori have been in New Zealand for about 1000 years. It is agreed that they derive from those Polynesians who first settled in East Polynesia. About 200 years ago the first European contacts were made, initially through explorers, sealers, whalers and missionaries, and then through systematic settlement from Britain from about 1840. Before this European contact the Maori had a stable and coherent culture and lifestyle.