Stuyvesant Math Team, Spring 1956
Top row, left to right
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Bottom row
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Photograph courtesy of Ken Albert, from Indicator, June 1956
From the Indicator:
Again and again, the cries of educators, scientists, and industrialists resound through America. They assail the de-emphasis on science and mathematics so evident in education today. They point out the fact that the Soviet Union graduates twice as many skilled engineering graduates per year than we do. The Math Team stands as Stuyvesant's proving ground in this nation-wide search for mathematical talent. Its members display their prowess in interscholastic competition. They bring no small amount of credit to the school from which they derive the education necessary to supplement their inborn talent.
Calvin Mittman, Stuyvesant's answer to "Univac" and Gerald Strahs, one of the team's biggest assets at meets, were the co-captains of this year's team. Aided by Simon Weil, Charles Goldberg, Peter Kastan– fourth highest scorer in the city, and substitutes Nathaniel Queen and Saul Lubkin, they guided Stuyvesant into second place in the interscholastic math competition in this city. Stuyvesant lost its chance at first place through a misunderstanding concerning procedure. Moreover, Strahs and Goldberg were absent at a decisive meet.
Stuyvesant was in competition with about twenty other schools, all of whom are members of the Inter-City Math Team Society. Every other Friday, our group had its meets at Brooklyn Tech. Other schools also paired off in this manner. Each member of the starting team receives the same set of six problems to solve. Each correct solution counts one point; the maximum number a team can attain being 30. The substitutes and junior members also attempt to solve problems. However, their solutions do not count. At the end of each season, the team with the highest score wins the championship. Competition takes place in the fall and again in the spring, each term starting a new "season."
Vacancies left by departing seniors will be filled by selections from among several promising juniors who, it is hoped, will carry on in the fine tradition established by their predecessors.