In teaching maths, for instance, both those countries spend more time on basic arithmetic than on deeper mathematical ideas, emphasise mental arithmetic, rely on standard teaching manuals and favour whole-class (as opposed to group) teaching.

ECONOMIST: Education and the wealth of nations

The mathematical sciences were neglected almost to the point of extinction within the mediaeval educational system, the schools teaching almost no mathematics and the universities only paying lip service to a narrow curriculum of mathematical topics at the very lowest level.

FORBES: A Long Forgotten Father of the Scientific Revolution

Also: the mathematical abilities of Brazilian street children which may help us find better ways of teaching maths in the classroom.

BBC: Revealing numbers in the NHS