Mathematics and its Infinite Wonders

There are many of us who haven’t had the most pleasant of experiences with mathematics. It is a subject dreaded by many. Many avoid numbers like the plague. I can recall myself as a kid when I was first exposed to the idea of ‘x’ and firmly believed that this letter had absolutely no place among numbers. Most of us continue to fear calculus which is often synonymous with boredom and worthlessness.

The following comic, sent to me recently by a fellow friend from calculus classes, sums up what most of us feel about integration and differentiation:

There is nothing wrong in feeling this way. It is probably a little reassuring to note that there are several prominent personalities who share the same sentiment. Mark Twain wasn’t too fond of statistical concepts. Lies, damned lies are what he believed them to be (Frederick Mosteller, however will argue and state that ‘it is easy to lie with statistics, but it is easier to lie without them’).

From the point of view of schools and universities, it is indeed very easy to play the blame game and throw phrases like ‘it has to be taught better’, ‘the curriculum needs to be reformed’ etc. I agree the system and the way the syllabus is assigned might have its flaws but the approach we take on an individual level has to be adjusted too.

And fortunately there are quite a few individuals and groups that are working towards this goal of trying to instill a sense of wonder and praise for this subject that is sadly starting to lose its popularity. Alex Bellos is one such example. He is an author who published his first book on football and eventually realized that mathematics is his true calling (yes, his football fans were very disappointed).

The next book he released has a lovely title and an endearing image that’ll hopefully bring a smile to all the Casablanca fans. This book lives up to its name and navigates you through the exciting world of math.

Matt Parker is another brilliant entertainer who combines his knowledge and skills as a mathematician with his talent at comedy. He uses standup comedy to change the way we look at math. He has won several awards as a comedian (or a number ninja which is what he often calls himself).

Steven Strogatz, a professor at Cornell University, blogs about mathematics for the New York Times. David Lynch has embraced mathematics and has been involved in an exhibition that just finished this year in March at the Fondation Cartier in Paris.

Math: much more than numbers

Chemists will agree that their subject is more than just bonds, atoms and molecules. Chemistry is involved in the study of hormones, and manufacture of explosives. It is used to create dyes, cook delicious food and better our knowledge of what the matter in this universe is composed of. Love (or its illusion), wars, textiles and an understanding of our origins as well as the whole cosmos owe a lot to chemistry. Similarly, math is more than numbers and equations. Probability, geometry, symmetry, statistics are related to patterns, music, poker, and the ups and downs of stock market (or their illusion). Math and Mona Lisa are more connected than you think. Psychology and mathematical modeling are well acquainted too. A cardioid is not just a shape whose x and y coordinates are given by a dreaded combination of sines and cosines. It is a rare image seen in a conical container when the conditions are just right and when the angle at which the light shines happens to be equal to the given angle of the cone.

Many might still remain unconvinced and firmly believe that math is worthless to their career, jobs and life, and maybe it is. ‘Pointless’ is supposedly one of the most tweeted words at the moment, 90% of which tend to include students saying “this class is pointless”. These claims might be true, but it might also be a silly approach to learning for the sake for learning (and it holds true for any class, not just for math).

So the next time you browse through Alice in Wonderland, make sure you remember to derive pleasures from the nonsense literature* used in this masterpiece, many of which have been hugely inspired from some of the conflicting mathematical concepts during that era.

And when you have to undertake a Fourier expansion for your next assignment, spend a few seconds to marvel at the omnipresence of those sines and cosines.

If you get exposed to the famous Navier Stokes equation, remember that many economists spend their career on this relation which at first seems to be restricted to those studying fluid mechanics and dynamics. This essentially means that if say an engineer with an expertise in weather modeling meets an economist whose research deals with analysis of macroeconomic growth and modeling of economic relations, the two of them might find it very hard to talk qualitatively about their professions but will find common ground in the form of the similar technical math that both of them are exposed to in their respective fields!

Hugo Rossi said it best. Mathematics is indeed an edifice, not a toolbox.

* Of course, on the diametrically opposite side there are truly nonsensical and immensely unfortunate ways in which some use numbers. Numerology is one example. Giving six hundred and sixty six a bad reputation is another. Using numbers to quantify selected events, names and situations is nothing more than locating coincidences. The highly selective choices via which they try to find meaning or significance in actions, incidents and scenarios makes their sample size highly skewed and their methodology unscientific.