While all teachers of Mathematics should be interested in the paper read last September by Prof. Perry and in the debate which followed it, members of our own Association, founded as it was for the Improvement of Geometrical Teaching, should give it special attention and should take advantage of the upheaval at Glasgow to press some of their immediate aims. Although Prof. Perry presented his case with a certain amount of picturesque exaggeration, I feel sure that his contentions were in the main true, and that the mathematical training of the schools, however well fitted for those who are being prepared for a University course, turns out the ordinary boy with a modicum of Mathematics which he finds of little use for any professional purpose. I do not however think that we need look upon Prof. Perry as an opponent but rather as a valuable ally. I am convinced that much might be done, at any rate in the earlier stages of mathematical teaching, which besides going far to meet Prof. Perry’s views and to remove the reproach (in my opinion deserved) of the Engineer, would be a considerable gain from our own point of view. Our cause may be advanced considerably if we make a proper use of the present opportunity.
