His Name was Liu Hui

Speaking from personal experience as a non-white, whose education in Canada was mostly Eurocentric, I think it makes a difference when teachers acknowledge non-European sources of mathematics because representation matters. It is a political choice to not acknowledge it and perpetuates an image of superiority and cultural hegemony. Research supports the adoption of culturally sustaining pedagogy as helpful for all students, however, we need to do this in a way where we are being respectful and celebrating achievement and not tokenizing or fetishizing the “other”. Even in this week’s paper, Gustafson repeatedly misspells Liu Hui’s name. This does not create a classroom environment where students can feel safe to be their authentic selves. 

The inclusion of non-European sources of math can also help students get a more holistic perspective on how math is developed and also view math in relation to the world outside the classroom. We can draw from a wider range of examples of ingenuity and creative problem-solving in real-world applications across multiple cultures. Acknowledging non-European sources of math also allows for the integration of social studies with math, which are two subjects that are often isolated from each other except by the means of statistics, by using the development of math as the lens to view cultures and civilizations.  

As for the naming of the Pythagorean Theorem and other named theorems and concepts, I view them as relics from antiquity which perpetuate cultural hegemony and institutional racism. There is insufficient evidence of Pythagoras discovering the concept or being the first to provide proof, so having his name associated with something that was used in cultures outside of Greece is an issue given the European dominance in math education. Also, from a practical perspective, calling it the Pythagorean Theorem makes less sense than calling it the RIght Triangle Theorem. The Right Triangle Theorem is more descriptive and is able to help students associate it with right triangles. Lastly, named theorems are a form of hero worship that I think is unjustified. Mathematical ideas and concepts are not things that people develop independently. There is a high degree of collaboration and I believe the naming of theorems should reflect as such. In general, I think we should be celebrating the idea and not a singular person.

Gustafson, R. (2012). Was Pythagoras Chinese- Revisiting an Old Debate. The Mathematics Enthusiast, 9(1-2), 207–220. https://doi.org/10.54870/1551-3440.1241