Goldsmith plays banjo at a festival in Cambridge with his old band.
Courtesy | Edward Goldsmith
In this week’s Quick Hits, Assistant Professor of Mathematics Edward Goldsmith talks Britain, banjo, and classroom behavior.
Which is better — whiteboard or chalkboard?
A chalkboard. My handwriting is terrible and I need some grip. And it just looks cooler. Let’s be honest.
What stereotype about English people is dead right?
There’s probably a couple. We like a drink. That’s true — except I don’t drink — but generally we do. What counts as an alcoholic in America, we call a legend in the U.K.
We like tea, and I think we’re much more reserved than Americans. We all have bad teeth.
How about dead wrong?
We’re not all posh. This idea of the Hugh Grant type — walking across an English moor in a top hat — that’s not what happens. It’s more like hiding under a bus shelter in a tracksuit. So I would say we’re not posh.
What made you want to come to America?
I feel like America is the greatest country in the world. And, you know, as an outsider who’s visited lots of countries, I genuinely believe that.
How did you end up in Michigan?
The reason I ended up in America is because I really wanted to, so I made the effort to try and get over it at some point. We used to come over and visit America every few years, and I was always obsessed with it.
What was the biggest adjustment coming to the United States from England?
Having to drive everywhere. I showed up with a British driving license, and a British driving license only works in California for a month, and I didn’t even have a car for that month, so I didn’t drive in America for the first little while I was here. If I needed to do anything, I’d have to get an Uber. Then that adds up quickly, especially in California.
How is that different in Britain?
In the U.K., I can go a week without driving, without even thinking about it, because I’d be in my town. And here, if I need to go and just do something like that, I have to drive like two miles. It’s not a criticism; America’s big. England isn’t big. I imagine moving from America to England would be much harder, because everything gets smaller! It’d be like trying to downsize into a studio apartment after you’ve owned a mansion.
If someone told you you either had to grow out your beard completely or shave your head, which would you choose?
Well, this is limited by the fact that I can’t really grow a beard. I don’t think I have the head for a shaved head. I’ve got big ears and a square head. So I’d look like Spongebob.
How did you get into playing banjo?
I just liked the banjo. I was 11, and I came home from school and my mum was like, “Have you thought about learning an instrument?” I was like, “I’ll learn the banjo.”My mum bought me a cheap banjo, and we found an old fella who sort of knew how to play the banjo, and he showed me the ropes and I learned, and then I just kept playing it because I like it.
What do most people misunderstand about math?
That you either get it right or wrong. As an applied mathematician, it’s not about right or wrong, it’s how much information you can extract from a problem using various inexact methods. We don’t solve equations exactly. Applied mathematicians care much more about the inexact thing that the maths is describing than the exact nature of mathematics.
What is the hardest thing about teaching math?
When I’m teaching Calculus I, I’ve got a class of students that they do mathematics for the hour that I’m with them three times a week, and then they do a bit of homework. And then when there’s Christmas break, they won’t touch maths, and then they come back and they’ve forgotten algebra, and they’ve forgotten how to do arithmetic. The difficult bit is not getting frustrated with that.
What about the easiest thing?
I think I’m at a stage now where I don’t think it would be possible for me to forget how to do calculus. Not that I don’t need to prepare for lectures, but I imagine if I was teaching history or something, you probably every now and then, if you haven’t taught it for a little while, have to go and remind yourself of dates and names. With maths, you don’t have to do that. And I think that’s because you embody it as a subject rather than memorize it.
What surprised you the most about Hillsdale students?
How they dress. They dress like they care about coming to school. When I was in California, half my students would turn up in pajamas — literally roll out of bed! One guy ordered a pizza to my lecture once, and I was like, “Can you at least humor me and pretend like this matters to you?” But here, it wasn’t surprising to me that Hillsdale students cared about their degree, but it was surprising to me that they constantly act like they care about their degree.
What would you think you’d be doing if you’d never fallen in love with math?
I would have been one of the guys that builds flat pack furniture. I love building flat pack furniture.
What do you miss the most about England?
Just my family. But fortunately, my parents are at roughly the age where they’re getting ready to retire, so they’re able to come and visit a lot. That’s nice.
What part of England do you hail from?
I was born in London. My mum’s from Liverpool. I was born in London, then we moved to Cambridge when I was about 6. I went to undergrad in Bristol, which is the southwest of England, and then, before I moved to America, I lived up in the northwest, in Liverpool, where my mum moved back to be close to her family.
