100 YEARS AGO

Prof. John Perry has asked me to write something in criticism of the views he has lately expressed about the teaching of mathematics… It is shocking that young people should be addling their brains over mere logical subtleties, trying to understand the proof of one obvious fact in terms of something equally, or, it may be, not quite so obvious, and conceiving a profound dislike for mathematics, when they might be learning geometry, a most important fundamental subject. I hold the view that it is essentially an experimental science, like any other, and should be taught observationally, descriptively and experimentally in the first place… The value of π should be measured; it may be done to a high degree of accuracy. So with the area of the circle, ellipse and all sorts of other things… The boy who really measures and finds it true will have grasped the fact far better than by a logical demonstration without adequate experimental knowledge; for it happens that boys, who are generally very stupid in abstract ideas, learn a demonstration without knowing what it is all about in an intelligent manner.

From Nature 4 October 1900.

50 YEARS AGO

As a result of examination of the hands of decomposed cadavers over a long period, it has been noticed that as a rule the muscles and skin of the left hand exhibit signs of greater decomposition than the right. This may be explained by the fact that the muscles, tendons, aponeuroses, etc., are less developed in the left hand than in the right, and would, therefore, less effectively withstand the ravages of the elements. There may be other causes for the more rapid decomposition of the left hand; but it would need confirmation by the examination of the decomposed hands of left-handed persons and of the ambidextrous. Unfortunately, it is difficult to obtain reliable data for this purpose. Since the left hand appears to be more susceptible to change under post-mortem conditions than the right, it was thought that the left hand of a living person might show certain signs indicative of disease, or even the approach of disease. A study of finger prints of persons suffering from certain pathological conditions lends some support to this contention.

From Nature 7 October 1950.