Mathematics – Natural Sciences
We explain what mathematics is and in what fields this science can be applied. Also, what are your branches of study?
What is Mathematics?
The etymology of the word mathematics refers to the Greek mathema, which can be translated as “study of a subject.” It is defined as the formal and exact science that, based on the principles of logic, studies the properties and relationships established between abstract entities. This concept of ‘abstract entities’ includes numbers, symbols, and geometric figures.
The field of study of mathematics was modified over time. Until the 19th century, it was limited to the study of quantities and spaces, but with scientific advances, fields of mathematics appeared that exceeded these two, requiring redefinition.
Mathematics is closely related to other sciences. First, it relies heavily on logic and its strategies for proof and inference. This is why mathematics is an objective science: it can only be modified by demonstrating the existence of mathematical errors, for which a large part of the scientific paradigm with which one works will indeed have to be changed.
The method then lies in analyzing these abstract entities to produce hypotheses and conjectures, make deductions, and thus approach mathematical knowledge, which, as has been said, is assumed to be exact and accurate. These deductions are carried out with the support of definitions (limitations of something concerning everything else) and axioms (premises accepted without the need for proof)
In what fields is mathematics applied?
The application of mathematics appears in almost all areas of life. Let’s see a little review:
- In daily life. Where with great assiduity, mathematical calculations are made, or measurements and comparisons. So omnipresent is mathematics in our lives that many experts consider the absence of mathematical notions as a variant of illiteracy.
- In the exact and natural sciences. In many cases (such as engineering or physics), its very existence is due to the approach provided by mathematics. In biology or chemistry, mathematics is also essential.
- In the social sciences. Like economics or psychology, which are based on mathematical concepts.
Even in other disciplines and the arts (music, sculpture, drawing). Mathematical resources have been and are being used.
What are the branches of mathematics?
Mathematics is subdivided into different branches, which have appeared over time and are dedicated to specific parts of this science. These are some of them:
- Arithmetic. Includes the study of numbers. In addition to natural numbers, it consists of all rational, accurate, and complex numbers. The operations that are performed with these numbers are included in this branch.
- Geometry. It includes the study of figures and their links with space. It includes trigonometry and descriptive geometry, among others.
- Probability and statistics. Includes trend analysis based on sampling; It is exciting for the social sciences.
- Algebra. It is the branch that analyzes structures and performs arithmetic operations through letters or symbols.
A person who is dedicated to the study of mathematics is called a mathematician. Pythagoras, Archimedes, René Descartes, and Isaac Newton can be mentioned as outstanding mathematicians throughout history who contributed essential concepts to the subject.
Finally, an event is said to be mathematical or to occur mathematically when it occurs with great accuracy or regularity, standing out precisely because of that attribute.
