I recognize the importance of being made to learn things that one does not like, but surely it was not good to give the young mind the impression that all education was a form of mental gymnastics. For example, I used to find geometry rather fun, and, when I still had the naïve idea that what I was being taught might have some practical value, I asked what geometry was for. The only answer I ever got was that it taught one how to solve problems. If, instead, I had been told the simple fact that the word was derived from the Greek ge, the earth, and metron, a measure, and that the meaningless triangles that I was asked to juggle with formed the basis of geographical exploration, astronomy and navigation, the subject would immediately have assumed a thrilling romance, and, what is more, it would have been directly connected in my mind with the things that most appealed to me.