"Algebra is a machine, or more accurately, a collection of machines. There is a machinery to factor expressions, to decompose complicated fractions into simpler ones, and so on. The object of the conversion in every case is to obtain a form more useful for the problem in hand. ...Elementary algebra as a whole is a huge machine to mechanize thinking. ...The mechanization of processes that have to be used repeatedly is... a great gain, since one does not have to think about them. They become habitual like washing and dressing. ...in itself elementary algebra is of no great interest. ...generally speaking, a machine is valuable because it turns out a useful product. ... The individual techniques of algebra are like single notes selected at random from large and magnificent musical compositions. ...these notes ...employed in the investigation of more significant undertakings, help to form beautiful patterns of reasoning. ...Unfortunately, the usefulness of the techniques of algebra has caused many people to mistake the means for the end and to emphasize these menial techniques to the exclusion of the larger ideas and goals of mathematics. The students who are bored by the process of algebra are more perceptive than those who have mistakenly identified algebraic processes with mathematics."