On the Importance of Mathematics

Mathematics is the queen of science and the language of nature. Its importance should be clear to any reasonable person. It is easy however to diminish the value of certain areas of research because they’re currently thought as having little practical use. Evolutionary needs brought our mind to prefer knowledge that can be employed for the solution of specific problems in the real world, rather than deeply abstract ones. It is an understandable and even excusable fallacy that there are useful fields of math and useless ones, based on the perception of their applied or theoretical nature. But it’s still a misconception. Each theorem and discovery is a little piece of a larger puzzle that we conveniently categorize into aptly labeled macro-areas. Discoveries and mathematical ideas that are perceived as “useful” today because they’re applicable to engineering, for example, were at a certain point in time considered absolutely abstract and useless, or at least derived or intrinsically connected to some that were. Mathematics matters; all of it.

On the net I found an incredible lecture by the brilliant mathematician Timothy Gowers, entitled “The Importance of Mathematics”. In this keynote, Prof. Gowers makes a very strong case in favor of the value of math, of financing its relatively cheap research and its deep implications on human progress. You can watch the 8 parts that compose the whole video, in the following playlist:

For those who’d prefer it, a PDF transcript is also available.

Sponsor’s message: Math Better Explained is an insightful ebook and screencast series that will help you deeply understand fundamental mathematical concepts, and see math in a new light. Get it here.

35 Comments

  1. machinehuman March 31, 2008
  2. Jeff April 24, 2008
  3. nitika July 29, 2008
  4. erica September 24, 2008
  5. bammy makanju October 13, 2008
  6. Dotun Oduwole October 29, 2008
  7. Jenelyn Solarte February 27, 2009
  8. Tom Bach March 17, 2009
  9. Jaxwhepee June 17, 2009
  10. cUtEaNgEl June 18, 2009
  11. Realizbeth June 30, 2009
  12. saad muksini September 30, 2009
  13. OJO OMOTAYO JESUJOBA October 26, 2009
    • bhagya January 27, 2016
  14. Rita November 23, 2009
  15. Ogunrinola oluagbemiga September 15, 2011
  16. eagle October 11, 2011
  17. Adebanjo Adetola October 11, 2011
  18. nilofer khan October 19, 2011
  19. keerthana February 18, 2012
  20. Kuntala May 25, 2012
  21. alen June 19, 2012
  22. tham July 24, 2012
  23. maths September 8, 2012
  24. reeha September 26, 2012
  25. Lim Keng Keh October 4, 2012
  26. Athul mohan November 13, 2012
  27. Joemz February 15, 2013
  28. Nazir September 2, 2015
  29. Talha Khalid December 21, 2015
  30. bhagya January 27, 2016
  31. muhammad m m duara February 24, 2016
  32. Ammie May 22, 2016
  33. kasinde September 28, 2016
  34. Fiona Yan October 30, 2017

Leave a Reply