GOD & MATH: Thinking Christianly About Math Education

James Nickel, author of Mathematics: Is God Silent?, has completed his mathematics curriculum The Dance of Number and it is now available for order.

From the author’s website:

The Dance of Number is a sequenced and tightly integrated curriculum involving four textbooks totaling 1924 pages (Grades 7-10). The only prerequisite is above average reading comprehension. We start from ground zero, teach the basics of arithmetic from a fresh, vibrant perspective, and then take the reader on a journey that leads to the borderlands of the mountain range called Calculus. There are plenty of side roads along the way where we stop to gaze at the scenic beauty (i.e., a unified look at principles of Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry). It is a long trip; its completion is worth the effort.

The texts are not named Algebra I or Algebra II, etc., because the four-volume sequence tells an coordinated story engaging the student in the nature of the structure of number, the development of its history, and its interpenetration with science. As the student takes this journey, all the topics of Arithmetic, high school Algebra, most of Geometry, and a complete study of Trigonometry are unfolded.

Because of this harmonized approach, these texts are different than most of what is on the market. The author wants the student to see how the ideas/branches of mathematics interpenetrate (e.g., you are doing algebraic operations and geometrical procedures as you are learning the elements of trigonometry). Our current textbook structure is not that successful at doing this.

After this sequence is completed, the student would be ready either for a complete course in Geometry (if desired) or PreCalculus

The series is published through Amazon’s Createspace. The author page is here.

Here is my favorite review, from Dr. Mark Eckel, one of the first ever guest contributors to GodandMath.

Work of a lifetime. People are known for their contributions in fields of inquiry, participation in great events, experiments which create discoveries, and ideas which break down walls of unknowing. Few are they whose life work assists in all four.

With James Nickel’s latest masterpiece he has given mathematics, publishing, discovery, and think-tank worlds a contribution to which all teachers, students, thinkers, and generations will point. No one has both the breadth of knowledge combined with the educational practice to match Nickel’s curriculum. No one ever needs try again.

The Church, the school, the academe, the world should sit up and take notice. Mathematics reflects the language The Father used to create the universe; its principles and truths permeate all of life, every problem, and solution. Jesus, second person of The Trinity, the God-Man, is the source, unification, sustainer, and will be the culmination of all truth. The Spirit now amplifies creation’s message to every one of God’s creatures: “Look! See! Know! Math is God’s witness to earth from Heaven!” All mathematical knowledge throughout creation is intended for Trinitarian glory. James Nickel has held a mirror up to mathematics to announce The Personal Eternal Triune Creator’s lordship over all.

Dr. Mark Eckel, President, The Comenius Institute, Indianapolis, Indiana