Jakow Trachtenberg was a Jewish engineer who dedicated much of his life to developing the Trachtenberg Speed System of Basic Mathematics (TSSBM) from 1933 to 1937. The system was originally developed in Germany to help children learn math quicker and more efficiently. After the rise of the Nazi party in Germany and the subsequent World War, the system was modified and became widely popular throughout Europe. The system has since been adapted and is still used today with great success.
Jakow Trachtenberg was born in Odessa, Russia in 1887. He was highly interested in mathematics from an early age and studied engineering at the Technical College of Berlin. During World War I he was a prisoner of war in Siberia and it was during this time that he developed the Trachtenberg System. After the war, Jakow and his family were forced to flee Europe and settle in Jerusalem, where he worked as a metallurgical consultant.
At the time, math education in the schools of Jerusalem was often ineffective and slow. Trachtenberg believed that students of all ages should be able to calculate quickly and accurately. To do this, he created 10 stages of arithmetic and algebraic problem solving and developed a lexicon of symbols and operations that allowed students to bypass the traditional method of mental memorization, with fast automatic calculations. He refined the system until it was perfected, encouraging students to "instantaneously calculate and think in numbers without the need of mechanical devices or complex mathematic operations."
The Trachtenberg Speed System of Basic Mathematics is based on the idea of "dimensional thinking." Through practice and application of simple steps, the system allows students to derive answers to basic math problems instantaneously, such as multiplication and division, powers, roots and square roots. The system also includes exercises in fractions and logarithms. Jakow Trachtenberg wrote several books that simplify and encourage the use of his system, which today is still taught in certain classrooms.
The Trachtenberg Speed System of Basic Mathematics is both a teaching tool and an educational aid: it provides teachers with an effective and efficient way to teach mathematics. It also helps students to learn the concepts of tackling mathematics quickly, accurately and with confidence, in addition to other critical problem solving skills. The system emphasize understanding, rather than memorization, so that students can think through the steps without having to rely on complicated mental equations. This makes the system suitable for all types of learners and ages, as it is not dependant on the child’s understanding of the material or their academic ability.
Overall, the TSSBM is a simple, yet highly effective system. Its methodology has been adopted and incorporated into the educational infrastructure of many cultures, to the benefit of children of all ages. Today, the Trachtenberg system remains one of the best teaching tools for math education, and has proven highly successful in helping students learn at a faster rate.
