French numbers

Napoleon said that there cannot be a great nation without great mathematics. And he was right. Following this idea, he brought prosperity and glory to France by founding the famous Ecole Normale Supérieure and other universities of great renown in which the teaching of mathematics reached unmatched levels for that age.

Now France’s most celebrated living mathematician, Cédric Villani, a 2010 Fields Medal winner, has called on his countrymen to recognise the beauty of mathematics as he seeks to rectify the ‘’catastrophic’’ performance of the nation’s pupils in mathematics.

Villani’s heartfelt plea follows his joint submission with the general inspector of education, Charles Torossian, of a report recommending a fivefold increase in mathematics lessons for trainee teachers, and urging the government to make maths a ‘’national priority’’.

The report blamed the decline on ‘’deficient’’ teachsands ing. In view of the desperate shortage of teachers, and good maths teachers in particular, in Scotland, I wonder if our own education secretary, John Swinney, could be persuaded to make maths a similar priority for the Scottish Government?

DOUG CLARK Muir Wood Grove, Currie