The “Miradas Matemáticas” Collection 2017-2021

Miradas Matemáticas is a collection of books that combines didactics and the dissemination of mathematics. From 2017 to 2021, the collection was the result of a collaboration between ICMAT, the Spanish Federation of Mathematics Teachers Societies (FESPM) and the publishing house Libros de la Catarata.

 

 

 

At school, mathematics is frequently regarded as a science with no practical use, just a collection of rules that appear like pulling rabbits out of a hat; like a self-enclosed body of knowledge without evolution in time that was invented centuries ago and has not changed very much since then. For that reason, the ICMAT and the Federación Española de Sociedades de Profesores de Matemáticas (FESPM) together with the publisher Libros de la Catarata launched in 2017 the collection of books entitled Miradas Matemáticas (“Mathematical Gazes”), which combine dissemination with education in mathematics. After four years and almost twenty books published, as of 2022, ICMAT ceased to be part of the project, which continues as a collaboration between the other two participating institutions.

The main target readership for these 18 books are teachers of mathematics at Secondary School and Baccalaureate level, the aim being to provide them with fresh ideas about using material to make mathematics more interesting and attractive to students in the classroom, as well as bringing mathematical research into the classroom with a historical perspective and relating the subject to other sciences and to technological developments. Furthermore, these books can also be enjoyed as popular works by a much broader readership, since they contain exercises that present entertaining challenges for people of all ages, thus providing not just a passive experience but one in which all readers can actively participate.