The choice to study mathematics is by and large one of the most important decisions a prospective student can make when entering into college. Mathematics has such a beauty and practicality to it that can be very lacking in other subjects, such as history or sociology. In Metaphysica Aristotle said “The mathematical sciences particularly exhibit order, symmetry, and limitation; and these are the greatest forms of the beautiful” and I personally think there is no better quote to describe mathematics.
Mathematics is the first true universal language; the Egyptians understood it, and the Greeks and Romans who came after helped to refine it. The earliest mathematicians saw just how vital mathematics was to everyday life, they may have not been privy to such things as the Fibonacci Sequence occurring in pine cones and the ancestry patterns of bees, but they understood that the world around them ran on mathematics.
Learning about Fibonacci at an early age was one of the defining moments in my life, as that was what first sparked my interest in mathematics. My uncle is a musician and would show me how the notes and the scales on a piano relate to the Fibonacci Sequence, and I was in utter disbelief. From there I started to inquire more about how mathematics affects the world around us, only to discover that mathematics is everywhere from the study of weather patterns to the migration of birds.
Recognizing the global influence of mathematics is one thing, but actually understanding and becoming skilled in mathematics is something else entirely. One of the main assets mathematicians have that many other professionals lack is a mind that is trained to solve problems. People who study mathematics are taught how to think of different ways to solve problems, often times going outside of one’s natural comfort zone and outside the normal conventions of thought in order to achieve the solution. This is entirely different from other concentrations where the education process is mainly focused on the regurgitation of names and dates.
It is my belief that teaching children why mathematics is so important at an early age is crucial. In any given mathematics classroom you will invariably hear at some point “Why do we need to learn this.” Growing up I had many teachers give very general answers that really didn’t hold any meaning. It is essential that the teachers of today inform these children why mathematics will play such a fundamental role in their lives. By enlightening them of the vital importance of mathematics, we can hopefully have a generation where the majority of people are problem solving forward thinkers, and the key to this is mathematics.
Mathematics is the first true universal language; the Egyptians understood it, and the Greeks and Romans who came after helped to refine it. The earliest mathematicians saw just how vital mathematics was to everyday life, they may have not been privy to such things as the Fibonacci Sequence occurring in pine cones and the ancestry patterns of bees, but they understood that the world around them ran on mathematics.
Learning about Fibonacci at an early age was one of the defining moments in my life, as that was what first sparked my interest in mathematics. My uncle is a musician and would show me how the notes and the scales on a piano relate to the Fibonacci Sequence, and I was in utter disbelief. From there I started to inquire more about how mathematics affects the world around us, only to discover that mathematics is everywhere from the study of weather patterns to the migration of birds.
Recognizing the global influence of mathematics is one thing, but actually understanding and becoming skilled in mathematics is something else entirely. One of the main assets mathematicians have that many other professionals lack is a mind that is trained to solve problems. People who study mathematics are taught how to think of different ways to solve problems, often times going outside of one’s natural comfort zone and outside the normal conventions of thought in order to achieve the solution. This is entirely different from other concentrations where the education process is mainly focused on the regurgitation of names and dates.
It is my belief that teaching children why mathematics is so important at an early age is crucial. In any given mathematics classroom you will invariably hear at some point “Why do we need to learn this.” Growing up I had many teachers give very general answers that really didn’t hold any meaning. It is essential that the teachers of today inform these children why mathematics will play such a fundamental role in their lives. By enlightening them of the vital importance of mathematics, we can hopefully have a generation where the majority of people are problem solving forward thinkers, and the key to this is mathematics.