A Mathematician's Lament, often referred to informally as Lockhart's Lament, is a short book on mathematics education by Paul Lockhart, originally a research mathematician at Brown University and U.C.

Santa Cruz, and subsequently a math teacher at Saint Ann's School in Brooklyn, New York City for many years.

The first part, "Lamentation", criticizes the way mathematics is typically taught in American schools and argues for an aesthetic, intuitive, and problem-oriented approach to teaching.

This book was developed from a 25-page essay that was written in 2002, originally circulated in typewritten manuscript copies, and subsequently published by Keith Devlin on his online column for the Mathematical Association of America's webzine MAA Online.

He criticizes mathematics education for prioritizing rote memorization and notation, which he argues is of little interest to the average student.