Mathematics for Australia 11 Specialist Mathematics WORKED SOLUTIONS

Sandra Haese

Sandra completed a Bachelor of Science at the University of Adelaide, majoring in Pure Mathematics and Statistics. She taught at Underdale High School and Westminster School before founding Haese and Harris Publications (now Haese Mathematics), together with husband Robert (Bob) and colleague Kim Harris.

What drew you to the field of mathematics?

I always found mathematics the easiest subject at school. I’m not sure why. I intended to study Chemistry at university, but found I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would – so I came back to mathematics, and have been involved with it ever since.

What motivated you to switch from teaching to writing mathematics books?

Bob used to write notes for his class. Other teachers at the school used the notes, then teachers at other schools started asking for them. Eventually Bob said, “Well, I might as well start writing textbooks!”

Initially, I was proofreading. As the workload increased, I began editing as well as proofreading. It just gradually became a full-time job, between writing material, editing and proofreading it, and then distributing the books. These days, Michael does the editing and I do proofreading and audio.

How has the field of textbook publishing changed in the years since you started?

When we started, text was typed and worked solutions were handwritten. Bob would draw any graphics by hand.

We moved to typesetting, but writing a mathematics textbook with the printing tools available presented its own difficulties. For example, symbols had to be copied, cut and pasted by hand onto the original pages, which was very tedious and time-consuming! Fractions were also problematic: we would type a line containing all the numerators, and then a line underneath for all the denominators.

Now it’s all done by computers, which is very much easier, and quicker!

What interests you outside mathematics?

I own a few alpacas. I enjoy my garden - I don’t do much in it, but I enjoy it! I like listening to music; mainly classical, but I enjoy other genres as well.

I really love to travel. The scenery, the history of a place, its architecture, its art – all of those things fascinate me. As a result I also enjoy photography; I like taking pictures of the things I’ve seen and places I’ve experienced.

Vicky Connarty