Why the human brain can do the maths | Daniel Glaser

Britain’s recent success on the international maths scene is thanks to geniuses with highly developed cortical machinery, says Daniel GlaserIn some welcome news about our much lambasted education system, Britain has come top in its group at the International Mathematical Olympiad.Maths is not a longstanding skill in evolutionary terms, although we do have a rudimentary ability to recognise small numbers of items, which is probably shared with some animals. This skill, known as subitising,