Page:Philosophy and Fun of Algebra.djvu/34

PHILOSOPHY AND FUN OF ALGEBRA Always remember that the use of algebra is to free people from bondage. For instance, in the case of number: Children do their numeration, their "carrying," in tens, because primitive man had nothing to do sums with but his ten fingers.

Many children grow superstitious, and think that you cannot carry except in tens; or that it is wrong to carry in anything but tens. The use of algebra is to free them from bondage to all this superstitious nonsense, and help them to see that the numbers would come just as right if we carried in eights or twelves or twenties. It is a little difficult to do this at first, because we are not accustomed to it; but algebra helps to get over our stiffness and set habits and to do numeration on any basis that suits the matter we are dealing with.

Of course, we have to be careful not to mix two numerations. If we are working a sum in tens, we must go on working in tens to the end of that sum.

Never let yourself get fixed ideas that numbers (or anything else that you are working at) will not come right unless your sum is set or shaped 30