MEMBERS of the 'S' Club meet as usual on Sunday for some work. Because they have to work even on a Sunday, some of them call their club the 'Ass' Club, but for the outside world, the 'S' stands for 'super brains' and 'superiority complex'. They are mathematicians whose names or surnames begin with the letter 'S' and they are meeting today at the house of Dr Seuss, whose three lovely granddaughters - Alpha, Beta and Gamma - are playing in the woods near the house.

"Sometimes, when I see my granddaughters make small discoveries of their own, I wish I were a child," says Dr Seuss. "I would never want to be a child again; once was enough," says W.W. Sawyer. "Adults are just outdated children," says De Seuss. "I don't agree. My discoveries are big and not outdated. My work is calculus and it has nothing to do with small arithmetic problems," says Sawyer.

"One should not forget that our term calculus is derived from calcule, "pebble", a reference to counting with pebbles," says Annemarie Schimmel." "I don't think we can ever learn from children. The present syllabus in our high schools corresponds almost exactly to what was known in 1640, so, I see no reason to change my opinion," says Sawyer.

"My dear Sawyer, you are right and wrong as well. Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything. I am in favour of a review of our teaching methods," says George Bernard Shaw.

"Giving students a lot of worksheets to fill out is indicative of low expectations. It suggests that you don't think they're capable of deep thinking about mathematics," says Midge Siegfried

"Poor teaching leads to the inevitable idea that the subject (mathematics) is only adapted to peculiar minds, when it is the one universal science and the one whose four ground-rules are taught us almost in infancy and reappear in the motions to the universe," H.J.S. Smith adds in to the conversation. Just then, the granddaughters of Dr Seuss rush in into his lap. "What did my lovely ladies do in the forest today?" says Dr Seuss. "We collected chestnuts, grandpa, 770 in all," says Alpha. "Then, what did you do with your 770 chestnuts?" says the professor.

"After gathering 770 chestnuts, we divided them up so that their amounts were in the same proportion as our ages. As often as Alpha took four chestnuts, I took three, and for every six that Alpha received, Gamma took seven," says Beta. "How many chestnuts did each girl get?" says Shaw. "That's our secret," says Gamma and the girls go away giggling, but the mathematicians will have no rest until they find the solution. "Sawyer, do you know the answer?" says Smith. "I don't know," says Sawyer. "There is a difference between not knowing and not knowing yet," says Shelia Tobias.