Re:Why are Soviet math textbooks so hardcore in comparison t...
by Mikhail_Edoshin on Tuesday November 03, 2026 @05:41AM
(#50350304)
There was a Russian mathematician, E. S. Ventzel ("E." is Russian Elena, Helen; she was a woman). She also wrote fiction and is known relatively well under her pseudonym "I(rina) Grekova", chosen so that it sounds like "igrek", the Russian name for Greek upsilon.
She wrote a short memoir about her student years, 1923 to 1929. She studied mathematics, of course. She mentions that a typical assigment for a part if a course was like that: here's a book or article that covers the topic, read it to prepare. Thing is, the reading material often was in a foreign language: German, French, etc. It was considered normal that the student will learn the language to the level sufficient to read it merely as a part of the process.
She wrote a short memoir about her student years, 1923 to 1929. She studied mathematics, of course. She mentions that a typical assigment for a part if a course was like that: here's a book or article that covers the topic, read it to prepare. Thing is, the reading material often was in a foreign language: German, French, etc. It was considered normal that the student will learn the language to the level sufficient to read it merely as a part of the process.