NYRB: "I'd encourage those who are heavy on the curiosity and perhaps lighter on the background to start with Arithmetic, work their way up through Measurement, and then move on to Mending"
[The Mending of Broken Bones: A Modern Guide to Classical Algebra]
Lockhart also wrote A Mathematician's Lament, whcih began as a manifesto "that circulated samizdat-style around the mathermatics and education communities in the early 2000s. Its thesis is that the standard pedagogy is a 'nightmare' of 'senseless, soul-crushing ideas' and that a 'rich and fascinating adventure of the imagination has been reduced to a sterile set of facts to be memorized and procedures to be followed.' For Lockhart, math should involve 'wondering, playing, amusing yourself with your imagination.' [...] [T]aught in this spirit, math can become a lifelong, joyful endeavor"