University of Mauritius

Faculty of Law and Management

Department of Finance and Law

Relevance of Mathematics

Programme: BSc (Hons) Finance (Minor: Law)

Module: Communications skills (COMS1010 (1))

Submitted to: MS Mooroogen Mila
Submitted by: Beegun Muhammad Bin Jaafar
Date: 09/13/19

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Table of contents

Brainstorming................................................................................................................................ 3

Related Research and Reading...................................................................................................... 4

Organization of ideas……………………………………………………………………………...

Essay……………………………………………………………………………………………... 9

Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………………..

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Brainstorming

 How mathematics shows it validity to the world?

 Was its existence significant in construction?

-Great Wall of China, Burj Al-Khalifa, Pyramids

 Is mathematics useful in navigation and travelling?

-Vessel, areophane and spaceship

 How mathematics confirmed its accuracy and transformed them into scientific laws?

 Mathematics as the eternal truth and art.

-Paul Erdos, Albert Einstein

 Mathematics as the backbone of most of the fields.

-Physics, Engineering, computing, astronomy

 Usage of math in film-making industry

 The importance of Basic mathematics in Business

 Mathematics in the animal kingdom

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Reference
15 November 2008-‘What has mathematics got to do with drugs?’ By BioLAGO,
Available at: https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/what-has-mathematics-
got-to-do-with-drugs

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Reference

20 July 2018- ‘The whale of the skies!’ By Daily Mail,

Available at: https://www.pressreader.com/ [Accessed: 09/04/19]

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Reference
1. Cohn Institute for History and Philosophy of Science, 2001. The Origins of Eternal
Truth in Modern Mathematics: Hilbert to Bourbaki and Beyond. Israel: Tel-Aviv
University, (Ramat Aviv 69978).

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Reference
Stephen F Keating., 1973. The Role of Mathematics in Business Decisions. Alexander Hamilton
Institute.

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Organization of ideas

Introduction
- What is mathematics?

Body development

Paragraph 1
- Civilization (caveman, construction and development of navigation).

Paragraph 2
- Backbone of other fields (physics, astronomy) and industry (Film-Making industry
and aviation).

Paragraph 3
- Mathematics as an art and eternal truth.

Paragraph 4
- The importance of basic math in business.

Conclusion
- Give an objective outlook of all the points covered above.

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 Relevance of mathematics

“Without mathematics, there’s nothing you can do. Everything around you is mathematics.

Everything around you is numbers’1, quoted by Shakuntala Devi (2015), which implies that

every part of our life contains a significant amount of mathematics. It is the science that deals

with the logic of shape, quantity and arrangement. Math is all around us, in everything we do. It

is the building block for everything in our daily lives, including mobile devices, architecture

(ancient and modern), art, money, engineering, and even sports2. This analysis will, hence, delve

further on how, mathematics is influencing our daily life.

Thousands of years ago, human beings relied on hunting for their survival. Their instincts

were far more useful to them than their ability to count or understand mathematics. Galileo

Galilei (1564-1642) said, 'The universe cannot be read until we have learned the language and

become familiar with the characters in which it is written. It is written in mathematical language,

and the letters are triangles, circles and other geometrical figures, without which means it is

humanly impossible to comprehend a single word. Without these, one is wandering about in a

dark labyrinth’. The world has undergone tremendous transformations since then. Man has

learned to create mathematical models of the law of nature and has been able to use this

knowledge to assert his supremacy on this planet. The history of mankind itself is so closely

related to mathematics that it clearly shows the importance of this science to all civilizations that

previously flourished. The world is fascinated by engineering feats such as pyramids of Egypt,

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the Great Wall of China and much more modern edifice: The Burj Al-Khalifa of Dubai and

Airports like in Singapore. They indicate that these people had fundamental knowledge of land

and geometry. Some of the numerals we know of were invented by the Egyptians thousands of

years ago. These numerals helped them in managing both agriculture, trade and developing new

mode of transportation. One of the most important contributions of mathematics is in the

development of navigation. It has allowed previous civilizations to explore the world.

We can rightly consider mathematics as the backbone of most other fields of knowledge such as

Physics, Engineering, Computing and Astronomy and to other industry like Film-making and

Aviation. An engineer building a bridge needs to perform calculations in order to determine the type

of material, thickness and structure so that the bridge could withstand the maximum load.

Pharmaceutical factories make calculations to determine the precise amount of ingredients in the

preparation of drugs. David Hilbert said of mathematics: "We are not speaking here of arbitrariness in

any sense. Mathematics is not like a game whose tasks are determined by arbitrarily stipulated rules.

Rather, it is a conceptual system possessing internal necessity that can only be so and by no means

otherwise." Albert Einstein (1879-1955). The whole computer technology is based on mathematics

and logic, where everything is converted into the binary form: zeros and ones. The mathematical

foundation of computers is logic. Other fields like calculus, probability theory, and set theory are

mathematical fields that are applied in computers programs but are not very important 4. An industry

which makes extensive use of the mathematics nowadays is film-making. Hollywood blockbusters

such as ‘avatar’ and the ‘Lord of the Ring’, utilise state-of-the-art visual effects to create breathtaking

scenes. Films companies use supercomputers running visual effects software. These software perform

such complex mathematical operations that they may take days to complete a scene. In addition, the

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aviation industry has evolved to a greater extent with the help of mathematical model, where planes

no more carry passengers only, but act as an air carrier to bring outsourcing of airplane part to a

reality, for example: The whale of the sky (Beluga XL) 5.According to Stephen Wolfram, in one of his

YouTube video he stipulated that mathematics can be used to increase the safety of travelling6.

Mathematics is a perfect science. Many people study it solely for its beauty and eternal truth. For a

mathematician, the subject can be likened to a masterpiece of art for an enthusiastic artist. For those

who are mathematically inclined, there is often a definite aesthetic aspect to much of mathematics.

Many mathematicians talk about the elegance of mathematics, its intrinsic aesthetics and inner

beauty. Simplicity and generality are valued. There is beauty in a simple and elegant proof, such as

Euclid's proof that there are infinitely many prime numbers, and in an elegant numerical method that

speeds calculation, such as the fast Fourier transform. G. H. Hardy in A Mathematician's

Apology expressed the belief that these aesthetic considerations are, in themselves, sufficient to

justify the study of pure mathematics. He identified criteria such as significance, unexpectedness,

inevitability, and economy as factors that contribute to a mathematical aesthetic. Mathematicians

often strive to find proofs that are particularly elegant, proofs from "The Book" of God according to

Paul Erdős. As Jaffe and Quinn suggested the following prescription for a healthy, future

development of mathematics (2001, pp.44), the mathematical community has evolved strict standards

of proof and norms that discourage speculation 7. The popularity of recreational mathematics is

another sign of the pleasure many find in solving mathematical questions.

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 Modern society had evolved into a sophisticated system where everything needs to be counted,

be it time or money. Mathematics is an important part of managing business. Business and

mathematics go hand in hand this is because business deals with money and money encompasses

everything in itself. ‘Business ownership requires more than skill in creating a product or talent at

providing a service. Overseeing the finances of your company is key to survival and success.

Understanding basic business math is necessary for profitable operations and accurate record keeping.

Knowing how to add, subtract, multiply, divide, round and use percentages and fractions is the

minimum you need to price your product and meet your budget’ 8. Banks have to use mathematics in

order to calculate how much a person has to pay for a loan, which involves compound interest based

on the principle of geometric progression. Insurances use advanced statistics to predict the risks

involved in their dealings. In such a world, it is no longer an exaggeration to say that knowledge of

mathematics equates to survival.

Clearly, mathematics constitutes the foundation of every existing science. In spite of all the

advances made in this subject, there is still much more to be made. Our ability to understand nature

and meet the challenges that lie ahead depends on whether mankind can continue to produce bright

mathematicians. This is a fact which Galileo supported when he said: ‘Mathematics is the language

with which God has written the universe.’

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Bibliography

1. 21 June 2015-‘Without numbers, there’s nothing you can do.’ By Akshara Foundation,

Available at: https://akshara.org.in/2015/06/without-numbers-theres-nothing-you-can-

do/ [Accessed: 09/04/19]

2. 16 August 2013-‘What is mathematics?’ By Livescience,

Available at: https://www.livescience.com/38936-

mathematics.html#targetText=Mathematics%20is%20the%20science%20that,%2C%20engineering%2C
%20and%20even%20sports. [Accessed: 09/04/19]

3. ‘Mathematics’ (2014), Wikipedia.

Available at: http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/knowledge/Mathematics.html [09/10/19]

4. 12 October 2019-‘The creatures of 'Avatar' were 15 years in the making.’ By The

Hollywood REPORTER,

Available at: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/creatures-avatar-were-15-years-

92231

5. 15 November 2008-‘What has mathematics got to do with drugs?’ By BioLAGO,

Available at: https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/what-has-

mathematics-got-to-do-with-drugs

6. 20 July 2018- ‘The whale of the skies!’ By Daily Mail,

Available at: https://www.pressreader.com/ [Accessed: 09/04/19]

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 7. Landing a Solid Model: Flight Operational Safety Analysis with Mathematica (2012)
YouTube video, added by Wolfram [Online].

Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPQqwVlR-Qw [Accessed 9/10/2019]

8. 06 March 2019-‘ The Importance of Basic Math in Business’ By Chron,

Available at: https://smallbusiness.chron.com/importance-basic-math-business-41097.html

[Accessed: 09/04/19]

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