ASHRAE Journal - December 2022 - 60

REFRIGERATION APPLICATIONS
COLUMN
Andy Pearson
Math Matters
BY ANDY PEARSON, PH.D., C.ENG., FELLOW ASHRAE
Last month, I promised to explore teaching math in school. This has been an interest
of mine for a long time (since I was a school pupil) but was rekindled by an excellent
discussion I heard recently on BBC Radio 4's program, " The Infinite Monkey Cage. " *
The panelists on the program were a mathematician, a statistician and a comedian.
One of them made the point that if we gave a child
a page of Japanese text to read they might say, " I don't
understand it-I will have to learn how to do that. "
However, when given a similarly incomprehensible
page of mathematics, the usual attitude seems to be,
" Either you can do this or you can't. If you
don't understand it then you are obviously
not suited to math so give up now. " The panelists,
who are internationally renowned professors
and scientists, agreed that they had all
reached a point in their mathematical development
where they felt like that. The only difference
between them and us is that they got
a bit further before hitting " the wall. "
When I was at school, every time a new
concept was introduced in math the pupils
seemed to react in one of two ways. Some needed to
have fully grasped the details of the previous step before
they could move on to the new topic whereas others
were willing to accept that " it's just that way, " leaving
comprehension for a later date. The first group was
being more conscientious and thorough, but this was
stressful and was undoubtedly holding them back. The
second group was more relaxed, and as a result, seemed
to be better at math. As they used the new concept,
without necessarily understanding it, the previous steps
fell into place. When I was in 12th grade, I picked up the
previous year's textbook and thought " This was difficult
* https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0019ytj
† https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.201199
60
ASHRAE JOURNAL ashrae.o rg D ECEM BER 2 0 2 2
last year, but it all looks so simple now. " Sadly, many
of the conscientious students never got that far. Math,
apparently, wasn't their thing, or so they had been told
over and over again.
This leads to two important questions: why is numeracy
important and what can we do about it?
The panelists on the Infinite Monkey Cage
referred to a study†
showing that there is a
Rameses just couldn't get the
hang of the new algebra.
direct correlation between numeracy and the
ability to assess the veracity of statements,
sorting facts from alternative facts and truth
from misinformation. This is more important
now than ever before, with the proliferation
of lobbyists and " fake news. " This
enhanced discernment applies to all types of
information, not only those involving numbers,
and is related to the way the brain develops when
it is handling mathematical concepts. We can therefore
improve our discernment by practicing our math. It
doesn't really matter whether it is serious or " recreational "
math-puzzles, Sudoku, mental arithmetic and
so on-it all helps.
This, in turn, leads me to the wonders of the fraction
1/17. In decimal form this is a recurring string of 16 digits:
0.058823529411764705882352941176470588.... Like its
little brother, 1/7, which recurs as 0.14285714285714...,
this 16-digit string can be replicated by multiplying,
giving the same string of digits with a different starting
point. Also like 1/7, if you take the first half of the string
Andy Pearson, Ph.D., C.Eng., is group managing director at Star Refrigeration in
Glasgow, UK.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0019ytj https://www.royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.201199 http://ashrae.org

ASHRAE Journal - December 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ASHRAE Journal - December 2022

Contents
ASHRAE Journal - December 2022 - BB1
ASHRAE Journal - December 2022 - BB2
ASHRAE Journal - December 2022 - Cover1
ASHRAE Journal - December 2022 - Cover2
ASHRAE Journal - December 2022 - 1
ASHRAE Journal - December 2022 - Contents
ASHRAE Journal - December 2022 - 3
ASHRAE Journal - December 2022 - 4
ASHRAE Journal - December 2022 - 5
ASHRAE Journal - December 2022 - 6
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ASHRAE Journal - December 2022 - Cover3
ASHRAE Journal - December 2022 - Cover4
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