Mathematics has been in the world a long time; it emerged in Babylonia in the 3rd millennium BC and has permeated science and civilization ever since. It crosses both national boundaries and subject boundaries. In the words of R. W. Hamming [1] “Our main tool for carrying out the long chains of tight reasoning required by science is mathematics”.
Today the application of mathematics to problems in science engineering finance economics and medicine requires ever greater numbers of mathematically literate members of the community. Given all that why is the following comment still all too typical: “I was forced to do mathematics at school but I have never needed any of it. Why should we teach children algebra and calculus?” Such a question was put to me recently and on camera! I provided the generic skills response: “Mathematics promotes strong problem solving skills clear thinking and logical analysis.” I came away feeling that a lot more needed to be said. But claiming that calculus could help balance your cheque book didn’t seem to do justice either to mathematics or to the intelligence of the reporter.
