Mathematics is a woman’s domain too. Discovering Mathematical understanding using innate common sense, enabling Mathematics to becomes your best problem-solving friend.

At the age of 10 my parents immigrated to the states.  Specifically, Los Angeles.  My parents had little schooling so the jobs they were able to get offered little pay and long hours.  At the age of 11 I heard my mother crying behind their bedroom door “how can we save money and also pay our bills”.  I had seen men selling newspapers on the corner of streets at their news-stands, and convinced one of them that I could sell newspapers outside one of the big restaurants after school and on weekends.  I was very successful and a hard reliable worker, so I worked my way up the newspaper ladder until at 16 I was promoted to Sunday sales manager for newspaper delivery, building up my own area.  In the end I had 16 children working for me, carrying the newspapers in the wagons that the Los Angeles Times supplied.  I delivered the bulk of them, a little over 2,000 newspapers, but I had a 1956 Chevrolet motor car to help me.  You had to pay to go to university.  It was with this job that I paid for all of my tuition.  I wanted to become a teacher, as I had difficulty with teachers.  Under the Education requirements they were probably considered good teachers, but I judged them by my requirements.  I was a stickler for understanding.  I couldn’t afford to pay to have tutors like the other students.  I had to depend on myself.  If I couldn’t understand the lesson after giving it my best I’d raise my hand and ask questions.  I thought I was helping the teacher by doing this, by letting them know I didn’t understand the problem-solving procedure.  I thought my teachers were the font of all knowledge.  Teachers were mostly annoyed by my questions, I didn’t realize that when I asked a question it was outside their level of understanding.  They would respond by making the other students laugh, or make a derogatory comment about me.  This period of time was very difficult for me, but at the same time, was very important.  I was increasing my level of understanding and wisdom, while others were only memorizing problem-solving procedures effective for specific problems.  I was gaining understanding enabling me to transfer what I had learned for solving new types of problems.  While in university I was aiming for a PhD.  Towards the end of gaining a Bsc, I met a young, attractive student.

My yearning for a PhD went out the window.  I realized I needed a steady good paying job.  Because I was working my way through university, I was unable to socialize with other students.  They were more interested in gaining employment after the Bsc. So were sending out Resume’s for all sorts of job applications.  I asked one of the student, for the address of a good place to apply for a position.  As a practical joke he recommended Electro-Optical Systems in Pasadena.  I didn’t know that this was a research organization looking for the cream of the graduates.  I had an interview, I was impressed with what the company was trying to do, but at the end of the interview I was told there were 46 more applicants to interview.  This company was one of the cream of companies doing research, they were working on deep space probes, rockets that were able to function in deep space, contracts for NASA and the Air Force.  I had no experience in this field, I was doing research in super-conductivity, but wasn’t aware this was not the sort of research undergraduate’s did.  I only saw a company that students from top universities applied to, and felt I didn’t have a chance, coming from what would have been considered a low end university.  I was the successful candidate.  It was my level of understanding and ability that gave me the confidence jump from what type of situation to another that demonstrated I would be a good problem-solver for new directions of activity.

In my first week of employment I realized that my high school and university study had ill equipped me as a problem-solver in applied physics for new projects.  I asked myself what was my bread and butter in this new problem solving situation, Mathematics;  but what is Mathematics; addition, subtraction and …; but what is addition?  The more basic questions I asked myself, the more I couldn’t find a simple answer based on understanding.  I did realize that every question I asked started with What, and putting into practice started with How.  With more self questions I need to know how do I know I’m on the right track, by visualization and reflection.  This was the beginning of my new journey into understanding.  I was not working in university where I knew what the problem was; was supplied with all of the formula and procedures I needed; and did not have the answer to the problem which was in the answer page of the book.  I was very successful as a problem-solver working as a Research Physicist and was co-author for a number of patents involving ion-rocket engines.  The girl who I gave up my university work for, but gained an exciting career insolving novel problems in deep space propulsion devices, decided she was not ready for marriage.  I ended up marrying Sylvia Barret another university graduate, and within a year of marriage we decided to immigrate to Australia where I started my career as a teacher.    I was in my element, I concentrated on teaching understanding, using the methods that were so successful as a Research Physicist.  The What, became the Concept, the How became the Rule and Rule and visualization and reflection became the Why. Why am I thinking, feeling, and behaving this way.

He has given talks at International Conferences in New Zealand as well as in Australia.  He has spent a total of four years, invited to, and living in China, to demonstrate his ideas of teaching Mathematics, using it as an Intellectual as well as Spiritual force.