Mathematics
I have always liked mathematics (i.e. math or maths). I wonder what fascinated me to math — Was it because of the teachers who taught me? Was it because I liked to solve puzzles? Or was it because it involves a set of steps that if performed systematically, I got an unambiguous answer? I honestly don’t know, though I know that I still like it!
Math in day-to-day life is mostly used for counting. My professional experiences have taught me the need of math to make business decisions (and even more so in financial markets).
Over time, I have learnt that math is closely aligned to physical sciences and to a lesser extent in other disciplines. Scientific method means their will be a need for math at some point! In physical sciences, it represents observed phenomena (reality?) and provides a way to predict what will happen next. Modern technologies use math (and science) extensively — during my engineering studies at graduate level, we used calculus and algebra to a fair extent.
I know how mathematics is applied as mentioned above, but some deeper questions that I have been trying to explore are: What is mathematics? What is the purpose of math? How does one explain this interplay of math with other disciplines?
I would like to know more about answers to such questions. Please do share your views. Thank you.
