Is Mathematics Important
by Charles Goh, on April 27th, 2012
Is Mathematics important?
Most certainly. The accomplishments arising from concepts and formulas aimed at understanding quantity, structure, space and change are ubiquitous. To name a few examples, the house you are living in relies on architechtural designs, which require the application of mathematics (trigonometry, right angles, area, volume etc.) Even the computer that you are using to read my blog post, and type your own is the result of the application of mathematics. The binary system are based off of mathematical concepts. Without mathematics, we would not be able to do the calculations that put sattelites to orbit, calculate the optimal speed at which they should travel. In addition, August’s point on implicit and explicit mathematics proves that Mathematics is important to everyone, regardless of whether they are aware that they are applying maths to their lives or not. Furthermore, look at the economy. Figures in economics rely on mathematical reasoning and processing. For example, how would governments know how to tax citizens were it not for Mathematics? Also, how would urban planners be able to design infrastructure if there was no Mathematics. How would doctors know what the right concentration of medicine they should inject into the patient without killing him, were it not for Mathematics? Therefore, there is no doubt that Mathematics is extremely important, not only to the individual, but to civilisation as a whole.
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Charles, when you write, “August’s point . . . proves that Mathematics is important to everyone”, red flags go up and alarms start ringing. No. August’s argument does not prove anything, and you must stop using the word proves when you mean illustrates, or supports, or suggests. Apart from that, I find your remarks quite sensible. But why do you randomly capitalize the word ‘mathematics’?
I think “suggests” is a better alternative to “proves”. I’m not exactly sure which one is correct (capital Mathamatics or mathematics). I always thought Mathematics had a capital M because it was the name for a field of study. But then again, I also see “mathematics” used everywhere…
Rules for capitals: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/592/1/. “Mathematics” should not be capitalized unless a) it’s the first word in a sentence, or b) it’s part of a proper noun, as in the name of a specific course: Mathematics 577, or IB Mathematics Standard Level.