> Hi to all members
>
> I need some references (historical ) on the convention of the order of basic
> operations (+, -, etc). I was teaching Grade 4s and this was the
> problem: 2x3 + 4x5.
>
> The boy in the class argued that you do it as follows:
> (2x3x5) + 4. Where you first multiply and then add.
>
> The girl was saying: (2x3)+(4x5).
She was of course right. Could it be that her analysis is the one that was
needed first, e.g. by somebody calculating a bride-price or temple tax,
and having to find the total value of (say) 2 sheep at 3 coins each + 4
pigs at 5 coins each?
John Harper, School of Mathematical and Computing Sciences,
Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand
e-mail john.harper@vuw.ac.nz phone (+64)(4)471 5341 fax (+64)(4)495 5045