No, there’s no gene for mathematics per se, and the author Keith Devlin admits it freely in the Math Gene, but he does argue that we have a genetic predisposition and an innate facility for mathematics, just like we have for language (see Steve Pinker’s excellent The Language Instinct).

The book’s subtitle is much more descriptive: How Mathematical Thinking Evolved and Why Numbers Are Like Gossip.


I can’t remember exactly what convinced me to read this book, but I suppose it’s the comments on the back cover, such as these:

… Compulsory (and compulsive) reading for anyone who loves math - and anyone who hates it…
- Ian Stewart

For a long time I suspected there was some connection between our ability to do math and our possesion of language. Now that connection is made dazzlingly clear…
- Derek Bickerton

Very hard to resist, particularly for someone like me who loves books that combine or relate 2 or more different fields together.

The book starts off talking about math, going into some of the foundations of numbers, counting, and math itself, and takes pains to correct many myths and misconceptions about mathematics and mathematicians, like

  • Mathematicians have a good head for figures. (Some do, some don’t.)
  • Mathematicians like adding up long columns of numbers in their head. (Surely, no one likes this.)
    • […]
  • Mathematicians are not creative. (If you believe this, you certainly don’t know what mathematics is about.)
  • There is no such thing as beauty in mathematics. (Philistine!)
  • Mathematics is predictable. If involves following precise rules. (Like music, drama, sculpture, painting, writing novels, chess, and football?)
  • In mathematics, there is always a right answer. (And it’s in the back of the book.)
As you can see, the author knows something about humour.

He likes messing with your mind too:

Quick, what is 8 times 7? It’s 54, right?
Or is it 64? Or 56, perhaps? If you are like most people, each of these answers seems “reasonable.” Why is it that, despite hours of drill in elementary school, most of us have so much trouble with our multiplication table?

As expected, a good part of the book talks about language and linguistics (structure, syntax, etc.), and theories on how the human brain evolved and developed for language.

And how mathematical ability is essentially another use of our language ability - the central point of this book.

* * * * *

Even if you don’t agree with the author’s central point or his arguments leading up to it, I think this book is worth reading as it covers good ground on both mathematics and linguistics, with loads of interesting tidbits, some of which I hope to mention in the future posts. Check the trackbacks.