I feel obligated to respond to Russell Frank’s letter Feb. 1 about Roman numerals (“Let’s abandon antiquated, confusing Roman numerals”). He feels they are outdated and primitive.
As a former first-grade teacher, I used them as a challenge to my better math students. And the Super Bowl was always the beginning of the discussion.
By learning a few of the major letters (I, V, X, L and C) and their values and a few simple rules, a child could write numbers from 1 to 100. I still have memories of some of the children using their “free” time to continue their lists.
Some older buildings do have the dates carved in using Roman numerals, which is a good argument for not abolishing them.
Two of my grandchildren in Falmouth learned about them from me, and I am looking forward to teaching the third, who lives in Portland.
Gretchen Davis
Topsham
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