Why Math and Science Go Together
Many students wonder why they have to do math in their science classes. They are completely different subjects…. aren’t they?
The reality of this question is that math itself is a science. Mathematics is defined as “the abstract science of numbers, quantities, and shapes, and the relations between them.” This might seem strange to some people. Isn’t science the biology, chemistry, and physics we learn in school? It is, but in a more general sense science is knowledge about or study of the natural world. Science is a systematic way of learning. The systematic approach to learning is what we know as the scientific method.
Think of any way you do a math problem. For example, imagine how you would find the zeroes of any quadratic function by using the quadratic formula. You work one step at a time to plug the coefficients from the equation into the quadratic formula and then to simplify. After finding the zeroes, you can then plot them on a graph. Every algebraic expression is solved in a systematic fashion- the same way any scientific problem would be solved. Any math problem is solved one step at a time.
Now, compare this to the scientific method. The scientific method begins with a question, which leads to a hypothesis. This hypothesis is then tested in an experiment. Following the experiment, you analyze the data and draw conclusions. Everything is done one step at a time. It doesn’t make sense to analyze the data before you conduct an experiment, just as it doesn’t make sense to plot the zeroes of a quadratic function before you have fully solved for them.
There is also quite a bit of research in math that involves the scientific method. Mathematical research is the reason we have formulas that we can use to begin with. There would be no explanation of why these formulas work without science. Many of the people who shaped the early history of mathematics also shaped the early history of science. For example, early Indian mathematicians are responsible for the beginnings of algebra as well as many major astronomical observations. Chinese mathematicians invented the abacus, which was an early counting machine. These mathematicians were also used for solving practical problems in engineering and business. The Greek philosophers Pythagoras, Plato, and Aristotle were responsible for much of the world’s early conceptions of the universe. They also began the conception of numbers as elements of all things in the universe, making mathematics a respected field of study.