Mathematics is a “science which requires a great amount of imagination”, said the 19th-century Russian maths professor Sofya Kovalevskaya – a pioneering figure for women’s equality in this subject.
We all have an imagination, so I believe everyone has the ability to enjoy mathematics. It’s not just arithmetic but a magical mixture of logic, reasoning, pattern spotting and creative thinking.
Of course, more and more research also shows the benefits of doing puzzles like these for brain health and development. Canadian psychologist Donald Hebb’s theory of learning has come to be known as “when neurons fire together, they wire together” (which, by the way, is one of the guiding principles behind training large neural networks in AI). New pathways start to form which can build and maintain strong cognitive function.
