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What is mathematics?
When people ask me what I think mathematics is, I find that quite a hard question to answer to begin with. After having a long think about what I think mathematics I think I can finally answer that dreaded question.
I think that mathematics is everyday life.
Everything in life revolves around mathematics and we don’t necessarily always see it. When we go to the shops, when we watch football, when we bake cakes, even when we go out for lunch! Originally, I thought that maths was all about going into a maths class, calculating numbers and leaving. I would never ever think about it again until I would have to do my homework (usually the night before it was due)
I now realise that maths plays a huge part in everyday life. Knowing this has completely changed my views on mathematics completely, which I never thought would happen. It is almost impossible to get through a day without using maths in some way, because our world is full of numbers to handle and problems to solve.
In the kitchen
Baking and cooking requires some mathematical skills as well. Every ingredient has to be measured and sometimes you need to multiply or divide to get the exact amount of ingredients needed. Whatever you do in the kitchen requires maths. Even just to bake cakes!!
Watching football
Watching the football can require using maths. Numbers are revolutionising football. Every match provides statistics about a player’s pass-completion rate, distance run and shot conversion. Fantasy football leagues assign points to players for goals scored, appearances and assists. On betting sites, teams are characterised by their number of shots, corners and possession.
Planning an outing
Every outing you plan needs your math skill. Whether you go to the beach or the zoo doesn’t matter. You will plan your way there and you will have to use your time wisely. Being able to tell the time is important so that you are able to use your time wisely which is a huge part of maths. You may also need to think about how much money you will need to take on your outing, checking how much things will cost and the number of people attending.
After reading The Guardian – The Secret Life of Numbers by Professor Marcus du Sautoy. I realised that what I thought maths was and how it was described in the article were not much different. His views on maths are extremely similar to what I believe mathematics is. He suggests that mathematics can be linked to other curricular subjects such as the expressive arts. I had never considered this view before but when researching this, I can now understand how these subjects can link together.
Overall, I feel that maths plays a very important role in everyday life.
