My general philosophy in life is this: in a world of more than 6 billion people, if I have been through something, the odds are that so has at least one other person. As I have stated before, one of my hobbies is the practicing of advanced mathematics. This broad subject matter encompasses a number of topics such as geometry, calculus and statistical analysis that are often largely sight-based.
But by my reasoning, if I am a visually-impaired math nerd, then there must be other visually-impaired math nerds somewhere in the world. While I still have some sight, that thought process prompted me to ask certain questions. How would a blind person study math? Have there been blind mathematicians in the past? My research presented me with several names; the most prominent was Abraham Nemeth.
The son of Hungarian immigrants, Abraham Nemeth was born in New York City on October 16, 1918. He was blind at birth from a combination of retinitis pigmentosa and macular degeneration. He received most of his primary and secondary education at the Jewish Guild for the Blind school in Yonkers, NY. Later, he attended Brooklyn College where he studied psychology, and he then went on to obtain a Master of Arts degree in Psychology from Columbia University.
Though he studied math and physics at Brooklyn College, academic advisors discouraged him from pursuing these as major degrees. It was a combination of encouragement from his first wife Florence and a series of what he deemed unfulfilling jobs at agencies of the blind that inspired him to continue with his study of mathematics. He went on to become a professor of mathematics, teaching at various colleges before landing at the University of Detroit in the 1950s, where he would begin work on his most significant contribution to the sight-impaired community, Nemeth Code.
Most of us have likely heard of Braille Code, the system for translating printed words into a series of tactile dots that a blind individual can feel in order to access various types of literature. Essentially, Nemeth Code is a form of Braille that is specific to math and science. The system is similar to Braille in that it uses standard 3×2 vertical cells that are stamped in various locations depending on the information that the translator is trying to communicate. Some information, such as numerical symbols or decimal points, only requires one cell, while more complex operations such as trigonometric functions or Greek letters like pi or delta require a combination of horizontally placed and/or vertically stacked cells.
The first edition of the Nemeth Code was published in 1952. It then underwent a series of revisions, the last of which occurred in 1972. It was officially integrated into the system of Unified English Braille in 1992. However, in spite of his retirement from academic life in 1985, Abraham Nemeth still considered the Nemeth Code a work in progress. He would continue working on it until his death from congestive heart failure in October of 2013.
Nemeth’s work has been cited as having inspired many blind mathematicians and scientists. Reading that struck me as odd since prior to my research I had never even heard of Nemeth Code. Nonetheless, knowing that someone has addressed the issue of how blind individuals could do math has given me hope for the future. While I still have some sight, and thus do not yet require the assistance of Braille or Nemeth Code, it does put me at ease to know that there is a possible work-around should that day come.
Source: American Foundation for the Blind. “Nemeth Braille”. http://braillebug.afb.org/nemeth_braille.asp.
Source: Yardley, William. “Abraham Nemeth, Creator of a Braille Code for Math Is Dead at 94”. The New York Times. October 6, 2013.
Michael P. Hill is a native of Elysburg and currently lives in Exeter. He has an Associate’s Degree in Specialized Business and a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting. Due to the difficulty that people with visual impairments have finding employment, Michael is currently working in a sheltered workshop alongside people who are living with multiple physical and mental disabilities.
