The Science of Patterns

Allyson Rain P. Leonor

BSHM-1108

Mathematics, often known as science of patterns, is a formal framework for

recognizing and classifying observable patterns or regularities in nature. This seeks to
explain how and why patterns develop, as well as forecast how nature will respond to
them. The role of mathematics, on the other hand, does not end at prediction. Once the
system has been understood, an attempt can be made to control it in the desired
manner. The result of this is development. Therefore,  progress was made possible due
to the discovery of these patterns.  For generations, mathematics has ruled our way of
life, and it is so firmly embedded in social culture that if it were to be withdrawn or
frozen, everything in existence would collapse, and our civilization would begin to go
backward. In addition, mathematics is universal in a sense that other fields of human
thought are not. It finds useful applications in business, industry, music, historical
scholarship, politics, sports, medicine, agriculture, engineering, and the social and
natural sciences. The relationship between mathematics and the other fields of basic
and applied science is especially strong.

To begin with, Ian Stewart's book Nature's Numbers teaches us how to

completely comprehend and understand Mathematics in a fun and engaging way. He
begins by witnessing nature on a regular basis, which will serve as a guide not just to
students but also to the rest of humanity in viewing the natural world mathematically.
Wherein nature's number is a broad summary of the world's most profound insights.

Nature's clues contain a lot of beauty, which we can all perceive even if we don't
have any mathematical knowledge. There is beauty in the mathematical stories that
begin with clues and derive the underlying laws and regularities, but it is a different type
of beauty because it applies to ideas rather than things. Nature is to mathematics as
what Sherlock Holmes is to evidence. Patterns are both useful and beautiful; exceptions
stand out once we've learned to detect a background pattern; the desert is calm, but the

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lion is on the move; and a small number of stars that move in distinct ways stand out
against the circular background of stars and beg to be singled out for special attention.
These were known to the Greeks as planets, which means "wanderer," and is still used
in our word "planet." Understanding the patterns of planetary motion took a lot of time
longer than figuring out why stars appear to move in nightly circles. Moreover, it is said
that numbers are the most basic mathematical objects, and numerical patterns are the
simplest of nature's patterns. For instance, every twenty-eight days, the phases of the
moon complete a full cycle from new moon to full moon and back. Three hundred and
sixty-five days is approximately the length of a year. Cats have four legs, insects have
six, and spiders have eight. On land, there are also wave patterns. The huge ergs, or
sand oceans, of the Arabian and Sahara deserts, have some of the most stunningly
geometrical landscapes on the planet. Dunes occur even when the wind blows
constantly in one direction. With tigers and leopards, zebras, and giraffes, nature's love
of stripes and spots extends to the animal kingdom. The shapes and patterns of animals
and plants are a happy hunting ground for the mathematically minded. Other than that,
patterns of movement exist in addition to patterns of form wherein, in the human walk,
the feet strike the ground in a regular rhythm: left-right-left-right-left-right. Also, there is
another type of natural pattern that has recently attracted the public's attention, but in a
significant way. This includes patterns that we have only just learned to recognize
patterns that exist where we originally thought everything was random and formless.

The first thing that comes to mind when we hear the word "mathematics" is
numbers. Numbers are the heart of mathematics, particularly important in terms and
providing the raw materials from which most of the mathematics is built. But, numbers
are only a small component of mathematics. It is stated that we live in an incredibly
mathematical world, but that mathematics gets swept aside wherever possible to make
our society "user-friendly." However, some mathematical concepts are so essential to
our environment that they can't be kept hidden, and numbers are a prime example. For
example, we couldn't buy food without being able to count eggs and subtract change.
As a result, arithmetic is taught. To everyone, like reading and writing, its absence is a
major hindrance. And this gives the impression that mathematics is primarily a matter of
numbers, which is not true. We've already encountered a distinct type of object of

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mathematical thought, an operation; examples include addition, subtraction,
multiplication, and division. An operation, in general, is anything you do with two (or
more) mathematical objects to get the third item. The square roots are also hinted at as
the third form of mathematical object. You get another number if you start with a number
and square its root. And so, the term for such an "object" is called function. A function is
a mathematical rule that begins with a mathematical item usually a number and relates
another object with it in a certain way. Functions are frequently defined using algebraic
formulas, which are simply shorthand means of expressing what the rule is, but they
can be described in any useful way. The notions of operations and functions are fairly
similar. Indeed, there isn't much to distinguish them at an appropriate degree of
generality. Rather than being things, they are both processes. Mathematical "objects"
have no existence in the real world because they are abstractions. However, since
mathematical processes are abstractions, they are just as much "things" as the "things"
to which they are applied.

There are numerous answers about why we wanted to learn so much about the
patterns we observe. First, we want to know or understand how they happen and why
they happen, which is different. To organize the underlying patterns and regularities
most pleasingly, predict how nature will behave, influence nature for our purposes, and
put what we’ve learned about our environment into practice. All of these things are
made easier by mathematics which is why it is necessary to learn about mathematics.

The stars move in circles across the sky every night. The seasons change every
year. The human mind and culture have developed a formal system of thought for
recognizing, classifying, and exploiting patterns. This is known as mathematics. We
have found a great secret by using mathematics to organize and systematize our views
about patterns: nature's patterns are not just there to be admired; they are vital clues to
the rules that control natural processes. The fact that the Earth revolves is also shown
by the constant nightly movement of the stars. While, the clues that regulate the flow of
water, sand, and air can be found in waves and dunes. The tiger's stripes and the
hyena's spots attest to mathematical regularities in biological growth and form.
Rainbows demonstrate how light scatters and indirectly show that raindrops are

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spheres. The shape of ice crystals can be determined from lunar beams of light. Thanks
to the development of new mathematical theories, these more elusive of nature's
patterns are beginning to reveal their secrets, We are already seeing a practical as well
as an intellectual influence. But, most importantly, this is providing us with a more
comprehensive understanding of the universe in which we exist, as well as our place.
Therefore, we could say that, we truly live in a universe of patterns.

In conclusion, everything that mathematicians do has an impact on every area of

our world. It makes no difference whether the item is large or tiny; what counts is its
value. It allows our minds to address problems in a variety of ways. It does not take
years to get enough skilled in mathematics. It just need time, effort and perseverance to
understand the deepest insights mathematics. 

REFERENCES:

Stewart, Ian, and Martin Golubitsky, Fearful Symmetry (Oxford: Blackwell, 1992)

Thompson, D’rcy , On Growth and Form, 2 vols. (Cambridge: Cambridge University

Press, 1972)

Kline, Morris, Mathematics In Western Culture (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1953)

Stewart, Ian, The Problems of Mathematics, 2d ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1992)

Nature's numbers - prospect magazine. (n.d.). Retrieved October 21, 2021, from
https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/naturesnumbers

Mathematics as the Science of Patterns - Mathematics as the Science of Patterns |

Mathematical Association of America. (n.d.). Retrieved October 22, 2021, from
https://www.maa.org/press/periodicals/convergence/mathematics-as-the-science-of-
patterns-mathematics-as-the-science-of-patterns

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