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| Making Math Fun 作者：Jennie Harris |
How a professor combines his passion for math and magic in showstopping
stunts. |
Did
anyone happen to bring a calculator?” With
this simple request, tuxedo-donned Arthur Benjamin sets the stage to wow
his audience. His international show, “Mathemagics,” blends math and magic in the form of astonishing
mathematical calculations. These include squaring three-digit numbers in
his head faster than you can say “abracadabra.” Tell him you were born on August 27, 1957, and he’ll
immediately announce it was a Tuesday. Toast masters can learn a great
deal from this math expert who can communicate a complicated subject in
a clear way and effectively connect with his audience. A
professor at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, California, Benjamin
teaches courses such as calculus, probability, statistics, discrete
mathematics, combinatorics, number theory and game theory. When students
ask if they’ll need a calculator for one of
his tests, this professor jokes, “Well, I didn’t
need one when I made the exam.” Amazingly, everyone laughs. Recent graduate Elizabeth Reiland says
Benjamin’s “passion
for math is infectious. He makes the material fun by breaking down
subject matter in ways that are easy to understand and remember.” Fame is part of his equation. Named “America’s
Best Math Whiz” by Reader’s Digest,
Benjamin has appeared on The Colbert Report, The Today Show and CNN, and was profiled in The New York Times and Scientific American. He not only is a math whiz; he also is a
dynamic presenter in the classroom as well as on the international
stage, as evidenced by the standing ovation he received at the 2005 TED
conference. [http://bit.ly/mathemagicianart] He gained even more
fans when the conference speakers’ sessions
were made available online a few years later. How did your learn to perform
rapid calculations? It
definitely came with practice. Most of my methods were self-taught, and
I enjoyed putting in the time and practice, because for me it was a form
of play, not work. It’s one of those skills,
like riding a bicycle, that doesn’t require
too much practice once you’ve mastered it. Now
I give more than 50 presentations per year and I get enough practice
from my performances. How did you become a “mathemagician”? As
a kid, I enjoyed doing magic tricks. In high school, I performed at
children’s birthday parties throughout the
Cleveland, Ohio, area as The Great Benjamini. Independently of this, I
had developed this skill of doing rapid mental calculations. When I
started doing shows for older audiences, my father suggested that I put
some of my mathematical tricks into the show. To my surprise, it got a
huge reaction. This gave me the incentive to do even bigger and faster
calculations. Thus, I became a “mathemagician.” Were you always comfortable
speaking in front of an audience? Looking back, I actually think I was too comfortable in front of
audiences. I can remember when I was a kid, my parents would take me to
the theater, and I would stand on my head in the lobby during
intermission. I argued that the people were there to be entertained and
that’s what I was doing. But I think it was
that same uninhibited quality, and my willingness to react to my
audience and think on my feet (or my head), that made me successful as a
kids’ magician and, ultimately, as a college
professor. In fact, I would attribute most of my success as a speaker
and professor to what I learned about entertaining an audience through
magic. Are there other “mathemagicians”? I’m
sure that there are thousands of other people who can calculate as
quickly as I do. I’ve met mathematicians,
accountants, stock traders, cab drivers and others with similar skills,
but they tend to be introverted and shun the footlights. I don’t
think there are too many others who do it professionally. Although, in
the last few years, a number of kids have read my book Secrets of
Mental Math, watched my videos (produced by The Great Courses series) and have started giving mathemagical presentations in their
neighborhoods. Which mathematicians have
influenced you? First on my list would be Martin Gardner, author of more than 70 books
on subjects like recreational mathematics, magic, puzzles, science,
critical thinking and poetry. He wrote a Scientific American column called “Mathematical Games” for more than 25 years. He might have been the first person to use the
term “mathemagician.” Martin had a way of making advanced mathematics clear, fun and magical. What does it take to speak at a
TED conference? Generally, to speak at TED, you need to be recommended by other TED
speakers. Back then, I had never heard of the TED conferences, but one
of the speakers told me that if I ever received a call from them to “just say yes.” When
they called, they told me that they were happy to fly me to the
conference, even though I was on sabbatical in Australia at the time. Originally, TED talks were only seen by people who attended the event.
Around 2007, they began to gradually put most of the TED talks online
for free. Mine came out in December 2007 and it was viewed by more than
a million people in one year. I used to give about 40 speaking
engagements per year, but in 2008, I did 80. My
wife Deena, who is a Distinguished Toastmaster, District 12 Secretary
and member of the Expresso club in Upland, [California], made a T-shirt
for me that year, saying “Mathemagics World
Tour 2008,” and listed 35 cities where I
performed that year. How do you teach advanced math in
a clear and entertaining way? Could you teach Toastmasters one
of your mathemagics tricks? I
would describe my process in three words: “Left
to Right.” On paper, we learn to do math from
right to left, but when doing it mentally, it is much more natural, and
ultimately faster, to do it from left to right. For example, to do 365 x
4, start with 4 x 300 = 1200. Next do 4 x 60 = 240, then add those
numbers (from left to right) to get 1440. Finally, add 4 x 5 = 20 to get
the answer of 1460. With practice, you can do a problem like this in
seconds. Do people from different cultural
backgrounds share the same reaction to your shows? I
have presented my shows throughout the world, and the audience reaction
has been consistently strong. My goal has always been to bring
mathematics to the masses through my classes, books, DVD courses and
live presentations, and I hope to be able to continue to do that for a
long time. Jennie Harris is a junior writer of the Toastmaster magazine. Reach her at jharris@toastmasters.org. 翻譯：李威霖 |
I
always try to identify those aspects of the subject that turned me onto
it. Just as every joke needs a punch line, every class needs to have a