Is maths a science?

I had a debate last night over whether Maths is a science or not.
I think it is.
But I don't actually know much about maths and need some back up arguements from you guys who do!!

I am seeing the same bloke again tonight and I want to kick his arse and prove to him that I am right!!!

MUHAHAHAHAHA

Reply 1

ChemistBoy

16

piranha85

I had a debate last night over whether Maths is a science or not.
I think it is.
But I don't actually know much about maths and need some back up arguements from you guys who do!!

I am seeing the same bloke again tonight and I want to kick his arse and prove to him that I am right!!!

MUHAHAHAHAHA

No, maths is not just a science, it is a language and art too. Some mathematical research is definately science but some is not - this is because mathematics encompasses many different fields. I don't think, persay, that maths could be totally classed as a natural science.

Reply 2

RichE

15

I think Maths is a science, or at the very least a lot of what maths contains is science. Much of it though isn't natural science.

A good working definition of a science seems to be that which progresses by the scientific method - you make a hypothesis, probably based on various observations, and you test that hypothesis. Granted in science you usually do this with an experiment, as you might in some applied maths, but this isn't the case in pure maths where you would prove the result. Nonetheless maths research pretty much progresses along those same lines.

The stages are:

(1) Spot some pattern(s) that seem to have certain characteristics in common.

(2) Formalize this into a conjecture.

(3) [Applied Maths] Make assumptions about a model for the problem.

(4) Prove the result

(5) Look to generalize [fit it into a larger pattern] or apply the result.

Just as in science, the above can all go wrong if the conjecture was bogus. Unlike in science, you can sometimes get the answer yes and no, if the result turns out to be independent of your previous assumptions.

Maths, though, is far from being a natural science as it is happy to consider abstract patterns whose motivations are out of this world. Granted scientists invent things which didn't previously exist, but maths is happy to consider thought experiments about things that couldn't exist.

Reply 3

MRLX69

2

I agree with all the opinions so far but maths is considered a science in many universities and colleges. Maths could be thought of as the language of science, many sciences use numbers and equations in their calculations. Such as chemistry, physics and even biology ergo maths is a science in that sense. But there is a whole realm of mathematics which does not exist in the real world (like imaginary numbers and multiple dimensions).

Reply 4

Evolin

13

maths is a sceince at universities and at my sixth form...whci h i was amazed about, cos i had never seen it classed as this. But i can now see why!

Reply 5

ChemistBoy

16

Tazzie

maths is a sceince at universities and at my sixth form...whci h i was amazed about, cos i had never seen it classed as this. But i can now see why!

You can get a BA or BSc in maths.

Is maths a science?

Related discussions

Articles for you

How The Student Room is moderated