Zoltán Pál Dienes

Zoltán Pál Dienes (September 11, 1916 – January 11, 2014), anglicized as Zoltan Paul Dienes, was a Hungarian mathematician whose ideas on education (especially of small children) have been popular in some countries. He was a world-famous theorist and tireless practitioner of the "new mathematics": an approach to mathematics learning that uses games, songs, and dance to make it more appealing to children. He is credited with the creation of base ten blocks, popularly referred to as Dienes blocks.

Dienes's life and ideas are described in his autobiography, Memoirs of a Maverick Mathematician (ISBN 1844261921), and his book of mathematical games, I Will Tell You Algebra Stories You've Never Heard Before (ISBN 1844261913). He has also published a book of poetry, Calls from the Past (ISBN 1844261905).

His later life contributions have been chronicled by Bharath Sriraman in the second monograph of The Montana Mathematics Enthusiast.