mathematics

Lynn Steen

Lynn Steen is a mathematics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Lynn Steen rather than just read about it. In short: Lynn Arthur Steen (January 1, 1941 – June 21, 2015) was an American mathematician who was a professor of mathematics at St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota, in the U.S.

Key takeaways

Lynn Steen belongs to mathematics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Lynn Steen to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Lynn Steen from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Lynn Arthur Steen (January 1, 1941 – June 21, 2015) was an American mathematician who was a professor of mathematics at St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota, in the U.S. He wrote numerous books and articles on the teaching of mathematics. He was a past president of the Mathematics Association of America (MAA) and served as chairman of the Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences.

Biography Steen was born in Chicago, Illinois, but was raised in Staten Island, New York. His mother was a singer at the N.Y. City Center Opera and his father conducted the Wagner College Choir. In 1961, Steen graduated from Luther College with a degree in mathematics and a minor in physics. In 1965 Steen graduated from MIT with a Ph.D. in mathematics. He then joined the faculty of St. Olaf College. At the beginning of Steen's career, he mainly focused on teaching and helping develop research experiences for undergraduates. His teaching led Steen to begin to investigate the links between mathematics and other fields. He wrote many articles aimed for a non-mathematical audience about new developments in mathematics. The majority of his work in the 1970s was regarding mathematical exposition, communicating mathematical research to students, teachers, and the public. In the 1980s, Steen helped lead national efforts to modernize the teaching of calculus and other areas in undergraduate mathematics. He helped broaden the mathematics major at St. Olaf by focusing the students work on inquiry and investigation. With the help of his mathematical colleagues, Steen made mathematics one of the five top majors for St. Olaf. St Olaf also became one of the nation's largest undergraduate producers in mathematical sciences. In 1992, Steen went on leave from St. Olaf, he served as executive director of the Mathematical Sciences Education Board at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, DC. In 1995, he returned to St. Olaf and began working on special projects for the Provost office. In the late 1990s, Steen worked as a writer and editor in pioneering grade-by-grade standards that helped meet the mathematical requirements of college as well as careers. The campaign for similar standards that is seen nowadays is an evolution of his former efforts. In 2009 Steen retired from St. Olaf. He died June 21, 2015, of heart failure. He was survived by his wife of 52 years, Mary Steen.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Lynn Steen

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Lynn Steen claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In mathematics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Lynn Steen before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Lynn Steen ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Lynn Steen

In research: Lynn Steen appears in mathematics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Lynn Steen in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Lynn Steen is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1941 births, 2015 deaths, 20th-century American mathematicians, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Lynn Steen outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Lynn Steen in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Lynn Steen means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Lynn Steen out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Lynn Steen in simple terms?

Lynn Arthur Steen (January 1, 1941 – June 21, 2015) was an American mathematician who was a professor of mathematics at St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota, in the U.S.

Why does Lynn Steen matter?

Because it connects several mathematics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Lynn Steen?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Lynn Steen.