One of my mathematics teachers used to regard prime numbers with considerable irritation. She tried to explain to the class why there was no simple formula to determine which numbers were primes. In the end, she gave up and moved on to the next part of the syllabus, leaving the question unanswered. I almost felt sorry for asking her in the first place. Almost.
If this mathematics teacher had had access to the diagram of the Ulam spiral, however, I imagine that this alone could have provided the impetus for at least one student - me - to have made an academic career out of mathematics. As it is, she committed many other crimes against education, including her infamous catchphrase "Don't bother studying any kind of pointless mathematics that you'll never need to use at work." A catchphrase whose validity has been refuted many times over the years, not the least with the discovery of this diagram.
If this mathematics teacher had had access to the diagram of the Ulam spiral, however, I imagine that this alone could have provided the impetus for at least one student - me - to have made an academic career out of mathematics. As it is, she committed many other crimes against education, including her infamous catchphrase "Don't bother studying any kind of pointless mathematics that you'll never need to use at work." A catchphrase whose validity has been refuted many times over the years, not the least with the discovery of this diagram.