In the beginning God created woman in His own like image, blessed her to go out to be fruitful and multiply, to replenish the earth, subdue it, and have dominion over everything on it, Genesis 1: 27-28. God's Own: The Genesis of Mathematical Story-Telling is about the creativity of God (The Absolute Infinite) as He is reflected in women. It is about the power of The Absolute Infinite to perform signs and wonders reflected in mathematical symbols, patterns, numbers, and graphs. It is a book on His word according to John 1:1, in the beginning was the word, the word was with God, and the word was God. God's Own: The Genesis of Mathematical Story-Telling is a mathematical, cultural, and spiritual story of Dr. Nkechi (God's own) Madonna Adeleine Agwu, aka Nma (Beautiful) Jacob. Dr. Agwu is an African female leader in mathematics and statistics education. Her life trajectory includes experiences of displacement, homelessness, living in refugee camps, single-parenting of a child with hearing and speech needs, and many other issues that from all indications could have set her up for failure, but for God's divine intervention. God's Own: The Genesis of Mathematical Story-Telling is about Dr. Agwu's journey as an ethno-mathematician to her present scholarship in African culture and women's stories in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) related fields. It is about how she found her identity as a mathematical story-teller of members of the Organization of Nigerian Women in Agricultural Research and Development (NiWARD). It is a story about the beauty, strength, courage, and nurturing spirit of women. In this era of globalization, African people face the urgent need to foster world-wide education about their mathematics, science, technology, history and culture (Gerdes, 1998). All groups of people have made significant contributions to the development of mathematics. However, the contributions of Africans other than those related to the early beginnings of algebra and geometry in ancient Egypt, are still highly unacknowledged in the history of mathematics (Lumpkin, 1997). This is partly due to our oral traditions, slavery, colonialism, neo-colonialism, globalization, and the fact that our indigenous mathematics, scientific and technological knowledge as a people is often shrouded in our spirituality. This notwithstanding, efforts must be made to document the mathematical contributions of Africans to enrich the curriculum in a multicultural and interdisciplinary way by providing a wide repertoire of examples of mathematical concepts illustrated from the African context. God's Own: The Genesis of Mathematical Story-Telling does this. In particular, it highlights the indigenous mathematical knowledge and cultural beauty of the Ndebele people of Southern Africa. God's Own: The Genesis of Mathematical Story-Telling is a story about creativity, innovation, and adaptation. It is a story about necessity as the mother of innovation. It is about the philosophy of "do what you can, from where you are, with what you have." It is a story about Nma (Beautiful) Jacob, the survivor, overcomer, successor and faithful servant of God. It is a story that The Absolute Infinite is ever present in our lives shaping our mathematical genomes. Emmanuel - God is with us! His Angels are around us, protecting and guiding us!
About the Author: Dr. Nkechi Madonna Adeleine Agwu, aka Nma (Beautiful) Jacob is a tenured Professor of Mathematics and former Director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning and Scholarship (CETLS) at the Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC), City University of New York (CUNY). She was a President of the American Association of University Women, New York City Branch Incorporated. Again, it is not by accident that there are seven Ndebele dolls in the picture of Dr. Agwu above. As indicated in the review section of this book, the number seven symbolizes completeness and the creative timeline of God as reflected in the book of Genesis, chapters 1 and 2 in the Bible. It also symbolizes the miracle of exponential growth in the five loaves and two fishes that feed over 5000 men, women and children with 12 baskets of leftovers. The seven Ndebele dolls are birthing the miracle of exponential growth with all the people who will be touched by this book. Dr. Agwu is nationally recognized for developing curriculum materials for innovative teaching as a recipient of several honors, including a Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship (CADF), a CUNY Excellence Award, an American Mathematics Association of Two Year Colleges (AMATYC) INPUT Award and a New York City Literacy Assistance Center Mini-grant Award, Effective Teaching Techniques Inherent in the Informal Educational System of the Igbo Culture. Dr. Agwu is a Project Kaleidoscope of the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) Faculty for the 21st Century honoree, Class of 1997. She chairs the Social Advocacy Committee of Black Women for Black Girls Giving Circle (BWBG) and worked in partnership with Brotherhood Sistersol Incorporated on a Civic Fellowship Project with high school girls to develop a children's book on black girls and self-esteem based on the findings of the BWBG research report, Black Girls in New York City: Untold Strength and Resilience. She is a volunteer fire-fighter, a trained NYS community emergency response team (CERT) member, and a NYS Chaplain certified to practice world-wide through the Worldwide Association of Small Churches. Dr. Agwu is author and editor of several scholarly publications, including the Writing Team Chair for the Chapter on Teaching for AMATYC's signature document Beyond Crossroads.