What is math?

We explain what mathematics is and in what fields this science can be applied. In addition, what are its branches of study.

1. What is math?

The etymology of the mathematical word  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,among others.

The field of study of mathematics was modified over time : until the nineteenth century it was limited to the study of quantities and spaces , but with scientific advances were appearing fields of mathematics that exceeded those two, which required its redefinition .

Mathematics has a lot of relationship with other sciences . First, it relies mainly on logic and its strategies for demonstration 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 must surely be modified .

The method then lies in analyzing those abstract entities to produce hypotheses and conjectures , make deductions, and thus approach mathematical knowledge , which, as has been said, is assumed to be accurate and true. These deductions are made with the support of definitions (limitations of something regarding everything else) and axioms (premises accepted without the need for a demonstration).

2. In what fields do mathematics apply?

The application of mathematics appears in almost all areas of life. Let’s see a small review:

• In daily life. where mathematical calculations are made with great assiduity, or measurements and comparisons. So omnipresent is the 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 very important.
• In the social sciences.  such as economics or psychology , which rely on mathematical concepts.
• Even in other disciplines and in the arts (music, sculpture , drawing ). they have been used and mathematical resources are used.

3. What are the branches of mathematics?

Mathematics is subdivided into different branches, which appeared over time and are dedicated to specific parts of this science. These are some of them:

• Arithmetic.  Understand the study of numbers. In addition to natural numbers , it includes all rational, real and complex numbers. The operations 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 .  It includes the analysis of trends based on a sampling; It is of great interest to the social sciences .
• Algebra.  It is the branch that is dedicated to analyzing structures , performing arithmetic operations through letters or symbols.

The person who studies mathematics is called a mathematician . Pythagoras, Archimedes, René Descartes or Isaac Newton, who contributed important concepts to the subject, can be mentioned as outstanding mathematicians throughout history .

Finally, it is said that an event is mathematical or that it occurs mathematically when it is presented with much accuracy or regularity , standing out precisely for that attribute.