Julio Cesar de Mello e Souza - o Malba Tahan: O Homem que Calculava, a vida e o legado

Abstract

This work aims to present some identities created by J ulio C esar de Mello e Souza, teacher and coauthor of Mathematics and Literature school books. He also acted as a teacher-actor in regular classroom, courses and lectures on "The Art of Teaching Mathematics" and is the creator of Malba Tahan, a legitimate Arabian gifted with religious beliefs, fantasies and amazing stories designed to (re)invent in his everyday practices of a self-taught man in the teaching of Mathematics in Brazil for about six decades. In order to show who J ulio C esar was as well as his in uencies in the teaching of Mathematics, a qualitative research was conducted on his life and legacy. Malba Tahan, one of Julio C esar's identities, creates the man who used to calculate, a character with rare skills in solving any problems involving maths through intriguing stories in his book , "The Man Who Used to Calculate". After analysing several Mathematics Stories in his book such as: "the creation of the Indu-Arabic decimal numerical system", "the resolution of second degree equations through the Al-Khw~arizmi method", "the construction of magic squares", among others, we came to the conclusion that the pillars upon which lie the innovatory and pleasant practice in The Teaching of Mathematics by Malba Tahan was the triad: Mathematical Recreations, History of Mathematics (short stories and legends) and problems and curiosities, which match the leading principles of pedagogical and playful actions that are responsible for devising a teaching-learning system geared to the characteristics and requisites of contemporary society.