History & Philosophy

The Abelian Group was founded in 1981 as a resource for adults who wanted to learn mathematics but felt anxious about it. Over the years we have expanded to include any motivated student over age 11. We believe that the major ingredient for learning mathematics easily is an experienced teacher with a keen grasp of the subject matter. Those who teach with us majored in mathematics in college and are either already master teachers or have taken training with us.

A little about our philosophy:

We know that students do best when they understand why the math works as they are practicing how it works – so we start at the beginning, with the concept of a number, and build from there, one axiom at a time.

We make extensive use of story-telling (usually historical, but sometimes whimsical) to reveal the motivation for new mathematical ideas.

We use visual and tactile approaches to the material whenever possible, because these methods reveal an idea in ways a purely intellectual approach cannot.

Because math is a language – not for the ear, but for the eye – we take care to teach the student the art of "seeing" math. We believe it is not the mathematics that is intimidating, but rather the notation – both what is written and what is left out; we teach how to "see" the things that are left out – the invisible stuff.

Because math is a visual language, legibility is essential to using it with ease. So we teach the benefits a of well-formed written presentation, and the indispensability of a good drawing as an aid to thinking.

Problem solving is at the heart of mathematics, so we introduce problem solving techniques early, and explore many  different approaches;  solving one problem in more that one way is usually more instructive than solving several problems all the same way. These measures promote confidence, and...

Confidence is the bottom line.

The Director

Leslie Bryan, founder of The Abelian Group and now its Director, has been teaching mathematics since 1963. She received her BA in mathematics and physics from UC Berkeley. She began her math-teaching career at Richmond High, teaching for two years while her husband finished his PhD work at Berkeley. After a year of world travel they moved to Massachusetts, where they raised their two daughters.

In Massachusetts, Leslie worked as a systems analyst for The MITRE Corporation, where she did comparative economic analyses of power generating facilities, and designed a program for bringing New England's vast network of low-head hydro installations into the electric grid. The program is now partially in place. She returned to Berkeley in 1978, teaching for many years in the math department at San Francisco State University. She earned an M.A. in Clinical Psychology at JFKU and has long worked as a psychotherapist. She finds that the two disciplines compliment each other in many ways.

She is a musician by avocation, playing cello at every opportunity.