ABSTRACT
Faced with the question ‘what counts as mathematics?’, many people will respond by talking about numbers and sums. In the past, most people were taught mathematics by rote and either failed or succeeded. Success as a mathematician offered high academic status but, perversely, any apparent failure as a mathematician has not carried the stigma that not being able to read or write carries. While illiterate adults adopt all manner of strategies to hide their inability, innumerate adults will happily declare that they can’t do maths to save their lives!
