Why do people hate maths?

And what should we do about it?

Mathematics is what in Britain we would call a ‘Marmite’ subject. Like the yeast-extract based savoury spread, mathematics is something that people either love or hate. If I mention at a party that I have written a book about the work of a mathematician, that is quite often likely to induce on the face of my interlocutor a look of scepticism, uncertaint…