I’ve been working most of today on the foundations of my Modern Algebra course for the fall, which you will remember is being done without a required textbook. The last time I posted about this course ...

The use of the letter x as a mathematical unknown is a relatively modern convention. Algebra has been around for a lot longer. Daryl Benson/Stockbyte via Getty Images You might be most familiar with x ...

It’s been a while since I last said anything about the textbook-free Modern Algebra class experiment. This is mainly because the class itself is now underway, five weeks into the semester, and it’s ...

In his new book The Math Myth: And Other STEM Delusions, political scientist Andrew Hacker proposes replacing algebra II and calculus in the high school and college curriculum with a practical course ...

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) Surprise: You can answer this question with modern algebra. Most folks who have been ...

A 9th-century Persian scholar, Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi, revolutionized mathematics by introducing systematic methods for solving equations, laying the groundwork for algebra. His name gave rise ...

You scrambled up a Rubik’s cube, and now you want to put it back in order. What sequence of moves should you make? Surprise: You can answer this question with modern algebra. You might remember ...