"Even the +, −, =, and x signs we take for granted only came into widespread use in the 17th century. Which means that the earlier algebraists we know of … all had expressed their equations mostly in ...

She’s right—using simultaneous equations does get really complicated, and if you’d like to send me your work for the solution, I’d love to see it. But the system is also kind of a trick. Like a sudoku ...

If Ms. Smith’s 8th grade algebra class works through 10 word problems in an hour, and Ms. Jones’ class works through 10 equation problems during the same time, which class is likely to learn more math ...