Is progress dead? Go figure

THERE have been some provocative guests at the Edinburgh Book Festival this year – and I don’t just mean the presence of David Mitchell on the opening day.

his Q& A session prompted three texts, two warmly approving, but one of them a little panicky. ‘Argh! It’s not that David Mitchell.’

Well quite: the Peep Show comedian had stayed home, leaving the Booker-nominated author to hold court on novels, the film version of Cloud Atlas, and his forthcoming book Slade house. Jesse Jackson is due to fly in at the weekend, but he may have to sharpen his rhetoric after one of the world’s greatest mathematicians drew a gasp when he took to the book stage and announced that academic progress was i n danger of being stifled because kids don’t want to try.

You can’t miss Cedric Villani, pictured left. he’s French and possesses an unusual period dress sense.

Most mathematicians appear to view their kipper tie predecessors on 1970s Open University programmes as quite the dandies, but Villani favours cravats, a pocket watch and a three-piece suit. In a Festival yurt, he looks like Mr Darcy on a camping minibreak.

It’s quite a look but it shouldn’t distract from his observation that a rising generation of unmotivated kids are unwilling to push themselves and struggle with the complexities of subjects such as maths and science.

Is he right? If so, rather than teaching children to dream big, how can we encourage children to embrace less alluring realities, such as selfcontrol and hard work.

Solving that equation requires some real big brainwork.