| Waxing eloquently on the basic importance of | | | | betting on a horse race, preparing a recipe in the |
| Mathematics in human life, Roger Bacon (1214-1294), | | | | kitchen, - the list is just endless if one goes on to |
| an English Franciscan friar, philosopher, scientist and | | | | note down the situations when our computational |
| scholar of the 13th century, once stated: "Neglect of | | | | skill, or more specifically, simple mathematics comes |
| mathematics works injury to all knowledge, since he | | | | to play a role. It scares us to certain extent to think |
| who is ignorant of it cannot know the other sciences | | | | of a life without any knowledge of calculation or |
| or the things of the world." And the ingenuity of his | | | | computation, or in other words mathematics. In many |
| statement is there before us to see, in this Internet | | | | a case, lack of a formal education hardly affects |
| era. | | | | gaining a relative mastery in these computational skills |
| However, mathematics, in itself, has all the ingredients | | | | which are so essential in our daily life. |
| that make it a universal language shared by all human | | | | At a psychological level, exposure to mathematics |
| beings irrespective of culture, religion, or gender. Pi is | | | | helps in developing an analytic mind and assists in |
| always 3.14159 regardless of where we are. Similarly, | | | | better organization of ideas and accurate expression |
| the elemental mathematical processes (like addition, | | | | of thoughts. At a more general level, far away from |
| subtraction, etc.) never get changed due to a change | | | | dealing with the higher mathematical concepts, the |
| in the location or for any other reason whatsoever. | | | | importance of mathematics for a common man is |
| These all say about the close intertwining of | | | | underpinned whenever he visits banks, shopping malls, |
| mathematics in our daily life. | | | | railways, post offices, insurance companies, or deals |
| At a time when even a common man is being | | | | with transport, business transactions, imports and |
| increasingly dependent upon the application of science | | | | exports, trade and commerce, and the ilk. Even when |
| and technology in the day-to-day activities of life, the | | | | we think of role of mathematics in our recreational |
| role of mathematics has undoubtedly been redefined. | | | | activities, we surprisingly have a list that runs quite |
| Right from getting up in early hours of the day to | | | | long: video games, computer games, puzzles, riddles, |
| the ringing of an alarm, to wait for the counts of | | | | and so on. |
| whistles of the cooker, to exchange currency at a | | | | It ensues from the above discussion that a modern |
| ticket outlet while availing a public conveyance, | | | | life style seems completely handicapped and at times, |
| almost every next moment we do the simple | | | | highly improbable, in the absence of mathematics. For, |
| calculations at the back of our mind. Of course, these | | | | unless we are well versed in the language of |
| are all done pretty unconsciously without a thought | | | | numbers, we would find it difficult to reach at |
| being spared for the use of mathematics on all such | | | | important decisions and perform everyday tasks. Be |
| occasions. | | | | it to shop wisely, or buy the right insurance, or |
| Reading time on a watch, rounding a date on a | | | | refashion a home within a budget, knowledge of |
| calendar, checking up the mileage of your car, halting | | | | mathematics holds the key, and hence, barely |
| at the filling station, attending to a roll call at school, | | | | necessary. |
| getting scores in the class exams, scoring in a game, | | | | |