Tom Lehrer wrote a satirical song named New Math which centered around the process of subtracting 173 from 342 in decimal and octal.

The song is in the style of a lecture about the general concept of subtraction in arbitrary number systems, illustrated by two simple calculations, and highlights the emphasis on insight and abstract concepts of the New Math approach. Summing up his opinion of New Math is the final sentence from his introductory remarks to the song:

“…in the new approach, as you know, the important thing is to understand what you’re doing, rather than to get the right answer.”

Some of you who have small children may have perhaps been put in the embarrassing position of being unable to do your child’s arithmetic homework because of the current revolution in mathematics teaching known as the New Math. New Math was a brief dramatic change in the way mathematics was taught in American grade schools during the 1960s. The name is commonly given to a set of teaching practices introduced in the U.S. in order to boost scientific education and mathematical skill in the population so that the supposed intellectual threat of the Soviet engineers, reputedly highly skilled mathematicians, could be met. In the consciousness of many Americans in the late 20th and early 21st century, New Math is reputed to have been a relatively ineffective approach, sometimes the object of mockery.

New Math was also mentioned in one of the Cosby Show :

A federal jury awarded a photographer $0.20 after Cosby allegedly assaulted him. In an interview later Cosby said: “Ten percent is my fault and 90 percent is their fault, and they win? What is that …the New Math?”