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As the difference between those figures are not very significant,
a simple arithmetic operation using numbers from different categories;
which can be addition, substraction, multiplication and division;
provides senseless results.
Is mathematics actually this boring?
Perhaps mathematics was the hardest subject at school for most people
Questions such as "Why do we calculate the square root of a number?"
or "what is geometry useful for?" remained unanswered
and many generations grew up lacking an understanding of mathematics.
We never really understood how to apply mathemetics in our everyday problems
and making sense of life in a world of numbers
was always an equation with many unknown variables.
Ali Nesin is one of Turkey's most important mathematicians of all time.
He has been the Head of the Mathematics Department
at the Istanbul Bilgi University since 1996.
He is not one of those professors
who only teaches mathematics at school and on blackboards.
In order for mathematics to penetrate every day lives of his students
and to make everyone actually enjoy the subject,
he built a new world out of numbers in the "mathematics village" he established.
This is the village of Şirince in İzmir, Turkey.
This village, however, is not one you can come across everyday.
This village situated in a see of trees is called the Nesin Mathematics Village.
The Nesin Mathematics Village was established in 2007 by Ali Nesin
in order to realize his father's will, and is settled on a 55.000 square meter greenery
that possesses all the colours of the forest.
Ali Nesin managed to build the village with the help of donations
he received from his acquaintances and friends.
This village receives high school,
undergraduate and gradute students during specific times of the year.
Mathematics is the leading factor that attracts these visitors.
In this camp, students have the opportunity to enjoy
their holidays in the heart of the nature for an average of 15 days
while learning mathematics.
In this school-like village,
students try to grasp what mathematics really is about.
They overcome thier prejudices about mathematics
and find out first hand that their "taboo" subject at school
is not that hard after all.
While learning mathematics in this village,
students do not have access to newspapers, telephones or televisions.
A completely natural experience is intended.
- Some people claim that this place is boring because no one
has access to a newspaper and no one can listen to loud music.
I do not agree with them.
There are some rules here that have to be respected by students.
We are here to attend classes and to study,
I believe those rules are very appropriate.
We never get bored although we cannot read newspapers,
listen to music or watch television, because so many students come here.
We have such a great time here meeting new people.
We are really enjoying our time here.
Students who come from large cities
really enjoy living in nature.
I witnessed many students cry
when leaving...
Nesin Mathematics Village is the first and only mathematics village in Turkey.
Over a 3-year period,
600 high school, 300 undergraduate and 100 graduate students
participated in the camps organized in the village.
In the village where dozens of young volunteers work,
students are not charged for anything.
Furthermore, all the expenses of the village are covered by donations.
- The reason why these students come is that
they see a different mathematics than the one they are used to.
This is a completely different type of mathematics.
This is not the mathematics they find in their curriculums and exams.
Algebra is what is offered, which is a very abstract subject.
Students get to learn the philosophy of mathematics,
which we find to be very useful for them.
When students first come here they face some difficulties.
However, as they are here to learn from scratch,
their last days are especially very different than their first ones.
They voice this opinion themselves too.
Students all work together here.
There are not that many people who work here,
maybe around 5 to 10 people.
But we can address 150 people here.
In the summer there can be up to 140-150 students.
Adding the staff, we reach 160 people.
Students wash their own dishes here,
they help the cook in the kitchen,
they clean their own washroom in groups,
they collect garbage and clean their dormitories.
This is all collective and voluntary action.
Students do most of the activities as a whole here.
Some students clean dishes and clean a washroom for the first time
however they break so many boundaries and
learn so much from the experience.
Besides mathematics, students get to learn so much more here in this village.
Ali Nesin followed his father's ideal.
He integrated mathematics
in the everyday lives of students and gave them a new perspective.
He made a huge difference in the lives of
thousands of students who never thought
they could enjoy mathematics.