International Mathematical Education: Elitism and Excellence

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Abstract
I thought of speaking about Science, Mathematics and the Imagination, but I have changed my mind. I fancy enough has been said on this kind of subject to last us for some time. I don't believe that many sentient educated people nowadays doubt that creative mathematics and science call for as high qualities of imagination as any human activity: if they do, they have no excuse. And I believe people are beginning to realise that creative science doesn't work as scientists used to pretend it did. Medawar's writings1 and James Watson's recent book2 have taught the simple lesson that, as a rule, scientists know the answer before they prove it. This is called the hypothetico-deductive method. All this is very interesting, but it is becoming part of the intellectual climate. So I have decided to say something on a more practical topic, where there are some decisions we may have to make—some of them quite soon. I am calling this topic Elitism and Excellence.

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