Why Study Mathematics?
Mathematics reveals hidden patterns that help us understand the world around us.
Now much more than arithmetic and geometry, mathematics today is a diverse
discipline that deals with data, measurements, and observations from science; with
inference, deduction, and proof; and with mathematical models of natural
phenomena, of human behavior, and social systems.
The process of "doing" mathematics is far more than just calculation or deduction; it
involves observation of patterns, testing of conjectures, and estimation of results.
As a practical matter, mathematics is a science of pattern and order. Its domain is
not molecules or cells, but numbers, chance, form, algorithms, and change. As a
science of abstract objects, mathematics relies on logic rather than on observation as
its standard of truth, yet employs observation, simulation, and even
experimentation as means of discovering truth.
The special role of mathematics in education is a consequence of its universal
applicability. The results of mathematics--theorems and theories--are both
significant and useful; the best results are also elegant and deep. Through its
theorems, mathematics offers science both a foundation of truth and a standard of
certainty. In addition to theorems and theories, mathematics offers distinctive
modes of thought which are both versatile and powerful, including modeling,
abstraction, optimization, logical analysis, inference from data, and use of symbols.
Mathematics, as a major intellectual tradition, is a subject appreciated as much for
its beauty as for its power. The enduring qualities of such abstract concepts as
symmetry, proof, and change have been developed through 3,000 years of
intellectual effort. Like language, religion, and music, mathematics is a universal
part of human culture.
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