Applied
Mathematics

Now

mathematics proved so useful when applied to the counting of sheep,

that it quickly caught on in other areas of human interaction,

helping them to understand and shape the world.

And that mathematical approach

applied to problems

gave humans great power,

the results of which can be seen all around.

But complex problems tend to require complex solutions,

which often show up more complex problems

needing more complex solutions

etc. etc.

So it is hardly surprising

that Applied Mathematics has developed

a wide range of different specialisms,

that may well be beyond the grasp of most non-specialists,

though it is certainly good to be aware of the various ways

that maths is bound up with the world in which we live.

The power of people to deal with practical problems in an abstract way

meant that mathematical solutions

could apply to many different situations.

Every elite football team

now has its own team of mathematicians,

but Game Theory can be used to deal with problems

in all sorts of conflict situations,

not just for games and military manoeuvres

but for business,

and even for resolving personal relationships.

Then there's Numerical Analysis

which deals with problems in practical situations that have no definite solution,

offering models of complex systems,

like those used for simulation testing of planes and cars

prior to actual construction.

Of course there are areas of maths that may suggest

an impression of the way that we thought of them in simpler times,

like Probabilities and Statistics,

but their application has changed beyond recognition,

as have the special branches of maths

now used for the various kinds of engineering,

or finance and economics.

And along with the digitisation of money and trade

has grown interest in cryptography,

and the need for computational sciences.

In a way similar to the impact on science

of the telescope and the microscope,

the use of computer modelling

has transformed the way that humans now see the world,

and as they reach the limits of their capacity to physically observe,

their understanding of the essential nature of their physical reality

largely comes down to numbers writ large on a computer screen,

with mathematical physics,

mathematical chemistry,

and biomathematics,

all placing the world firmly in the land of abstraction.

As God says in the Qur'an,

this world is nothing but a dream.