Teaching Children Mathematics, May 1st, 2002
The Fly on the Ceiling: A Math Myth (Glass 1998) imaginatively recreates the story of Rene Descartes and the Cartesian coordinate system. Descartes, a French philosopher and mathematician, was unfortunately also a messy and disorganized person. One day, unable to find any food in his room, he ventures to the bakery to buy a loaf of bread. On his way home, deep in philosophical thought, he falls into the Seine River, catching a cold. At home in bed, he gazes at the only clean spot in his room--the ceiling. There, he observes a fly moving from one place to another. How can he track the fly's m...
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