Math Changes The World Once Agian

The article directly handles the effects of a rapidly changing world and how Calculus and other even more advances areas in the field of mathematics can be used to not only describe, but predict and change our future. They quite clearly state that the need for advanced mathematics is growing nad the those who will be the most successful in the job world will be those who have atleast some portion of advanced mathematics.

How Math Transforms Industries discusses many different fields ranging from business to media and explains how each has and will be effected by further advances in technology and mathematics. How Much Math Do We Need to Know discusses just that, how much is going to be enough? Touching on Calculus, statiscs, advanced algebra and Geometry. Pointing out that in extremely advanced Geometry, techniques were used from that field to create search engines such as Google, and Yahoo. How? I don't know, but it says thats how they did it.

For me this article to me wass incredibly fasinating. The fact that we are moving into an age where quite simply understanding and being able to apply multiple types of advanced math to pieces of data,collections of information, to quite simply predict the future. Adjust plans, marketing schemes, business models, all based off of data. This following paragraph clearly illustrates a prime example of what has been done and what is still to come form this field of advanced mathematics in business.


"The clearest example of math's disruptive power is in advertising. There Google and other searchcompanies built on math are turning an industry that grew on ideas, hunches, and personalrelationships into a series of calculations. They can pull it off because, quite simply, they know wheretheir prospective customers are browsing, what they click on, and often, what they buy. Internetcompanies use this data not only to profile customers but also to pitch for more contracts. Some 18months ago, 3blue-chip companies, from Procter & Gamble Co. () to Walt Disney Co. (), underwent a series of tests promoted by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, an industry group. These studiescrunched consumer data to measure the effectiveness of advertising in a host of media. The resultscame back in hard numbers. They indicated, for example, that Ford Motor Co. () could have sold anadditional $625 million worth of trucks if it had lifted its online ad budget from 2.5% to 6% of the total. Ford responded vigorously: Last August it announced plans to move up to 30% of its billion adbudget into media targeted to individual customers, half of it through online advertising. Such movesare sure to generate even more data, giving greater clout to the numbers people."

http://www.businessweek.com/print/magazine/content/06_04/b3968001.htm?chan=gl (2 of 6)1/17/2006 2:47:50 AM

While clearly beyond my understanding of how they can make these predictions, i find it amazing that as math has become more and more complicated it has, due to advances in technology only become more and more applicable in the modern work force.

As time progresses mathematic literacy is going to become more and more relavant and I believe more and more a part of our daily lives. So while at times maths and science appear to be largely irrelavant to our futures and what we may possibly want to do with our lives, they may prove to be by far the most important pieces of information we learn in our time in school.