Have you ever thought to yourself “Where am I going to use this mathematics?” I like many other people had this opinion going through school, but I have since found that lots of mathematical concepts are used in many different areas. Anytime you compare two things that is an extension of a mathematical concept. Maths is just an extension of logic. Why do you have to look both ways before crossing the road? The usual response is that it is for safety, and it is, but why is it only two ways? Could it not be 12 or 15 or 18 ways? We know that a road is a line and from any point on the line (road) the road extends in two directions, so in order to make sure that we see everything on the road we need to look exactly 2 ways before crossing.

Learning mathematics helps you to think logically, spot the patterns that occur in nature, and connect how these might be useful in other situations. Spotting these patterns can help you solve problems that you couldn’t before. For example, when sand-boarding you need to be able to work out how to stability points whilst you are moving.

Maths is fun. You can fill your head with numbers and letters. Not to mention with it you can travel the world. Recently I have attended a conference in Budapest, Hungary. There I met a lot of world famous mathematicians from my specific area and they were all lovely people. It was an adventure, seeing a new place, meeting new people and questioning some of the mathematics underpinning nature.

Find me on Twitter at @avivasamuelson

For more information:
www.utas.edu.au/natural-sciences