Professor Wang Yilin has accumulated great experience in mathematics teaching and research in China, Europe and the USA. Born in Shanghai, China, she studied at SFLS before entering the Lycée du Parc in Lyon, France, where she studied with Alain Chilles, former coordinator of the SPEIT mathematics section, and then at the École normale supérieure and ETH Zurich, where she obtained her doctorate. She then taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the USA. Currently, Wang Yilin is a junior professor at the Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques in France and plans to return to ETH Zurich in 2025.

In her lecture, Wang Yilin compared the similarities and differences in mathematics teaching in China, the USA and Europe, whether in terms of educational philosophy, classroom culture, student mindset or family and social support systems, taking into account her experiences of learning and teaching in all three countries. She also addressed common public concerns: is learning mathematics still useful in the age of artificial intelligence? What should we do when we lose interest in mathematics?

Taking as an example the mathematical idea of introducing the complex unit i into complex space, Wang Yilin stressed that the key to the development of human society lies not only in the ability to solve problems, but also in the ability to come up with “good” problems and “good” concepts. She believes that it is this conceptual creation and problem awareness that has enabled science and thought to take a great leap forward. It is precisely this ability that today's artificial intelligence still struggles to possess. Although AI has made remarkable progress in processing information and simulating reasoning, it lacks the motivation and intuition needed to “see” new structures out of chaos and create new languages and categories.

When it comes to learning mathematics, Wang Yilin believes that mathematics education should follow the law of human cognitive development and proceed in a progressive manner. Different ages should focus on the development of different abilities: at the beginning of education, the emphasis should be on training basic numeracy skills and number sense, in order to build an intuitive understanding of quantities; while at higher stages, such as middle school, high school and university, logical thinking, abstraction and modeling awareness should be reinforced, in order to truly understand the deeper meaning of the structure of mathematics.

Mathematics is not only a means of understanding the world, but also a profound spiritual experience. Teaching mathematics in the truest sense of the word is not just about imparting knowledge, but also about stimulating thought, awakening curiosity and instilling love in the heart.

Throughout her talk, Wang Yilin presented a wonderful sharing of depth of thought and humanistic temperature with her clear, gentle and philosophical language, complemented from time to time by humor. The lecture was well attended, with frequent exchanges and interactions.