Mathematics Survey

Math skills are highly underrated by some people.  What they fail to recognize is that expertise in mathematics gained in school can translate into improvements in the quality of your life throughout adulthood.  This idea baffles many students, who fail to see the benefits that the math they learn in high school will provide later in life.

Let us look at one typical example as an example – the buying process for a new refrigerator.  Too the poorly informed it may seem like there is not much use for mathematics in this decision making process, but this could not be further from the truth!

To start with, when looking at refrigerator reviews – or even just reading a list of specifications – shoppers will be taking in data like width, height, depth, volume.  An educated mind is able to tie these together into an underlying whole and understand the mathematics behind them.  When math skills are lacking, these will just be a string of numbers.

With adequate math skills one is able to take these numbers extracted from a refrigerators review and tie them back to the dimensions of your kitchen, or of your proposed installation area, and have a full understanding of any limitation that may prohibit the installation of the model under consideration.

Even once you have analyzed refrigerator reviews and decided which model to purchase; mathematics still has a further role to play.  Will you pay cash, or will you finance your purchase?  If a retailer is offering a great deal on financing so as to move more products, it may make sense to take advantage of low interesting financing.

However, these types of calculations are not simple.  To make the right decision the consumers’ needs to have knowledge and awareness of items like discount rates, opportunity costs, percentages, interest rates, finance charges and the like.

While concepts like these are not difficult, a proper understanding does require a solid mathematical background.  Decisions on financing are very important as they can potentially cost a buyer hundreds of dollars if poorly made.

Hopefully this example of the use of mathematics in reviewing refrigerators for purchase – and exploring financing options – will demonstrate to teens the need to focus their attention on their math studies while at school.

When you’re thinking of buying something nice for your kitchen and you’re going through websites reading things like espresso machine reviews, the last thing on your mind is probably the amount of precision engineering and math that goes into designing and building these complex beasts.

There are more cups of coffee drunk each day in the USA than the leading brand of cola. But these days a lot of people are taking the wise move of buying a home espresso machine to reduce the cost of their daily coffee.

The very first espresso machine was invented by Luigi Bezzera in 1901 but since then, the technology, engineering and math involved in designing an espresso maker has advanced significantly.

Espresso machines work by forcing hot water through compacted coffee at very high pressure. In particular, super-automatic espresso makers are complex systems which deal with every function from the grinding of the beans to the production of the final espresso. So what things does the engineer have to consider when designing one?

• Managing the temperature
• Timing
• The flow of water in the machine
• The physical portafilter design

As you can imagine a good knowledge of math would be essential in designing a system that does all of these things simultaneously. So if you’re interested in going into the world of kitchen appliance design then remember it’s not all about the looks. The engineering of these modern appliances is impressive so stick in at your math class if you want to be the next Luigi Bezzera.

It is sometimes tempting to ignore the huge impact on the everyday word that mathematicians actually have.  However there is scarcely an area of science which is not touched by mathematics and the models it produces.    Take for example a famous French Mathematician call Joseph Fourier,  in 1824 he coined the phrase the ‘greenhouse effect’  in order to describe certain observations he had documented.

Fourier calculated that the temperature of planet Earth was incorrect.  He used mathematics to prove that if the Earth was only warmed by the Suns Rays, then it should be considerably cooler than it was.  There was another factor effecting the overall temperature of the Earth, the phrase greenhouse effect is now part of everyday speech.  The warming, insulation effect of  greenhouse gasses has become possibly the most important challenge facing the human race today.   Without Fourier and the mathematicians who followed him then we would have little warning about the devastating consequences that face us unless we adapt a much more eco friendly way of living on this planet.

It might not look like the key to solving one of the Earths most pressing problems -

(Greenhouse Law for CO2) ∆F = α ln(C/C0)

But the Greenhouse Law developed from Fourier’s original findings is very valid today and forms the core of the studies of environmental scientists trying to study the causes and effects of climate change.   The law was discovered by a Swedish scientist called Svante August Arrhenius who started by developing a theory to explain the Ice Ages.

He spent his latter years working out the mathematical model that would describe our problem and perhaps lead to a solution.   By developing a formula to illustrate temperature change that is caused by the changes in the amount of Carbon Dioxide – he has illustrated the sheer scale of our issue.  The formula and the change in  CO2 that is required to modify the Earths temperature is core to our efforts.  This core  mathematical model of climate change will in the years to come touch all our lives.

Let’s face it. You need math for everything. Everywhere you go you need a little math. Whether it is buying groceries, buying a drink, going out on a date, or filling up on gas, you basically need it for almost everything in life. If you aren’t good at math, it is never too late to learn. You can always get a teacher or take classes that will teach you the basic mathematics you need to get by in life.

You can use math for programming and other skills also. One use for math can be for becoming a pilot. In order to become a great pilot you need to know how stuff works through mathematics and other aviation knowledge. You need to practice the use of math and flying through a flight simulator. A program that’s great to learn flying on is the Pro Flight Simulator which will teach you about the basics of flying. It might not seem like it, but in order to become a pilot, you need to know a lot about mathematics. Math comes into play when you read instruments and panels on an airplane and also, when some of the controls don’t work.

So, you need math for almost everything that you do. You even need some math when driving a car. The speedometer uses math to calculate how fast you are going and how much time it will be to arrive at your destination. You simply cannot get by in this world without a little bit of math! So, dust of those mathematics skills and put it to some use. You can use a calculator if you want, but get used to using your head as well.

Ever since I can remember, I have disliked math. It probably started around junior high when we did more than just add, subtract, divide, multiply, etc. The concepts got more abstract to me and I had a hard time wrapping my head around them. By the time I got to Geometry in high school, forget it. I couldn’t tell you anything about a triangle today except that it has three sides. I have no idea how I made it out of that math class alive.

I got A’s in most of my math classes (except Geometry, I think I got a B), mostly because I wanted to do well in school and get good grades. I would just study and learn what I needed to know for the tests and then promptly forget . Surprisingly I was pretty good at Algebra but I don’t think I could solve for “x” if someone put a formula in front of me at the point in my life.

Let’s fast forward to today. I work in the marketing department at a credit card processing company. I have a great job that I absolutely love. The only time I have ever needed to use math was to show the percent of change in the number of new merchant accounts that we acquired year over year. Besides, the payment processing industry really revolves around the only kind of math that I like: the addition and subtraction of money.

In school I was always a bit afraid of going out and getting a job in the “real world” because I wasn’t strong in math. My teachers would try to scare me into learning it because they threatened that I would “need it later.” Well, that’s just a big joke to me now. I have never had to apply any high level math concepts in my career and I am doing quite well, thank you. Plus, if I ever need some math-related help, I have my dear friend the search engine to point me in the right direction.

When was the last time you sat down to really look at your monthly expenditure? More specifically when was the last time you worked out the math on your non essential monthly expenditure? This starts to get very interesting for those of us that happen to be smokers. If you smoke a pack a day, going off an average price of $7 per pack, you will be spending on average $213 per month.

This is a fair amount but seeing this figure doesn’t always have an impact for many people. Well, how about doing the math on that figure over a 5 year period? $12,780. Now we have your attention! If you have been a long time smoker just think what you could do with this amount of money or even just half of it. A luxury family holiday maybe? Down-payment on a house? There is a lot you could do!

This might seem to over simply the fact that there is still the small issue of giving up the smokes. There are many options but one of the latest alternatives to tobacco that has given many people positive results is the e cig. Thousands of people have made the switch and a large percentage of them have managed to kick their nicotine habit altogether. Look out for an honest electronic cigarette review and you won’t go far wrong, it can be a little daunting at first due to the large number of brands out there but stick with it. Their are different price ranges and an initial outlay for the equipment but once you have this all you need to do is buy the cartridges that contain the nicotine.

Take a step back, think about the money you could save and what you could invest that money in.

Math has always come naturally to me which has allowed me to spot good and bad mortgage deals from a mile away. It’s also given me an advantage when working with customers in the mortgage and real estate business over the years.

First time home buyers may become confused and overwhelmed when applying for a mortgage loan due to all of the calculations that should be reviewed and explained throughout the loan application and disclosure process.

I always recommend borrowers use a mortgage calculator with taxes. This will allow them to figure their principal, interest, taxes and insurance payment. This total payment is also known as a PITI payment. Some online calculators will even factor in the mortgage insurance too.

A trick I learned early on to make applicants feel at ease is to get out a note pad and write down the important closing cost figures and monthly payment calculations as they are explained to the customer. This helps them better understand their mortgage rate quote and closing costs. Many borrowers will ask to take the notes with them along with their disclosure forms.

Time value of money calculations are complicated, most people use computers or financial calculators to figure monthly payments. In the old days brokers carried printed rate table charts with them to quote monthly mortgage payments. A simple way to figure monthly interest on the fly is to multiply the loan amount times the interest rate and then divide by twelve. For example 100,000 x .12 (12%) is 12,000. This is the annual interest on a 12% loan for $100,000. Dividing 12,000 by 12 months gives you a monthly interest payment of $1,000.

Over the years I think many individual’s math skills have declined due to the abundance of personal electronics. Imagine what would happen if we had to calculate everything longhand.

Although no formal educational requirements are necessary to land security guard jobs, there are basic skills that will be measured and tested in applicants for these jobs to determine how fit they are for the job.  Both the job applicant’s physical and mental abilities are evaluated before they are hired to become security guards.

One of these important basic skills is mathematics.  Basic mathematical abilities are required to be able to land a job as a security guard.  Those who are not good in geometry, algebra, and trigonometry do not have to worry.  Most of the time, all that is required is knowledge of basic arithmetic as well as other basic skills like counting, measuring, and converting.  All these are tackled in security guard courses offered either on a short-term certificate course or as part of a two-year associate degree course.

Elementary as it might seem, number concepts such as reading and writing numbers, whole numbers, fractions, and percentages as well as operations like rounding off, adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing whole numbers are tackled in security guard courses.  These mathematical concepts and operations are applied to security guard tasks like logging in information about goods, property, or money in their watch and making incidence reports among others.  The following gives a short description of the kind of math skills that are necessary for particular security guard jobs:

1. Counting skills – security guards handling petty cash accounts would need money-counting skills to keep track of funds in their possession.  Those who are assigned in warehouses might also have to record quantities that are brought in and out of the building they are watching and make an updated tally of how much goods are in storage at any given time.
2. Measuring skills – some security job assignments require guards to make various measurements.  This may be hourly temperatures in controlled storage facilities, odometer readings for freight and transportation services, or fuel consumption in factories or manufacturing facilities.  Security guards would have to learn how to make readings using instruments like thermometers, odometers, and liquid or gas gauges.  There are times when they also have to learn how to convert these readings in to the required measurement system, such as converting a Celsius reading into a Fahrenheit reading.
3. Estimating skills – this is another important mathematical skill especially for security guards assigned in armored trucks or in banks.  Security guards are often required to make estimates as to the value of goods damaged or stolen from the facilities that they are guarding.  Estimating time and distance are also important skills for security guards who might be required to recreate or retrace a timeline in an accident or crime report prior to investigation by the police.

Did you know that car donation can be a great way to do your part in advancing the state of mathematics and science in education?  There are many, many non-profit organizations that will accept your used vehicle as a means to advance their work in ensuring that our youth are being given all of the necessary tools in comprehending and spurring onward their role in math and science in the future.  You can use the site linked above to scour different organizations throughout the United States that will accept your used vehicle (it’s also tax deductible).  This enables you to do your part in advancing math and science while also giving you a financial reward at the same time.  This creates an excellent win-win situation for you and chosen charity whilst improving the state of mathematics and science in education.

Until recently many of the larger webhotel companies have been using raw data to monitor how much bandwidth a user have been using, these algorithms don’t take into account things like text and image compression, cache optimizations on the server and other servers along the way to the destination. As it is now 1MB data equals 1MB of traffic bandwidth on most webhotel providers.
That is starting to change here in 2012 as more and more companies are switching to one of the new algorithms which have been made in order to give a more realistic picture of the actual bandwidth a user has been using. Here at Webhotel they have been taking a closer look at one of new webhotel algorithm and found it to be a lot more effective than the old way of calculating bandwidth use. It shows that customers ofte pay 20-30% more for their bandwidth than what they actually use which can be save some of the larger customers quite a lot on webhotel costs if they switch to a host using one of these new algorithms. Here in 2012 we can expect more and more webhotels to start implementing this algorithm and in 1014 it is expected that around 90% of all webhotel providers will be using this method for calculating bandwidth use for the customers. We can expect to see a lot of the major clients move to a different webhotel if their current one isn’t upgrading to this function in order either get more bandwidth or save money on their current traffic use.

Math professor Paul Smith claims that this is one of the most interesting uses of math he has seen in recent time and is surprised that is has not been implemented before now, but suspected that a lot of webhosting companies was more than happy with their old model and didn’t want change anything as it would mean they could charge their customers less for the traffic they use.
There are still plenty of room for optimizations to these algorithms and in addition to more and more server optimizations also being implemented we would not be surprised to see the bandwidth cost reduced with about 50% over the next 2 years at most of the larger webhotel providers on the Internet.

Students the world over have been told again and again by their parents to stick at the math and science subjects in school, as they typically lead to better career prospects and salary than the arts or humanities subjects. Is this a realistic assessment or just another example of misguided common perception when it comes to careers?

Essentially it depends on your perspective on what constitutes a successful career. Robert Kiyosaki, author of the famous wealth creation book Rich Dad Poor Dad, argues that anything more than basic education is unnecessary for wealth and prosperity. To give a little background on the book, Kiyosaki compares his two fathers (biological and step-father), one of which has a PhD and esteemed academic career but remains relatively poor, the other who had little education, but built great wealth through his own business. The author champions mindset and personal wealth creation over traditional schooling.

On the other hand, for the majority of students intend to go on into paid employment, having a math and science background certainly does help to keep their options open. For example, medical jobs are widely known to pay more than writing jobs- and earning the ultrasound technician salary requires the same amount of time in college as does copy writing, but medical training usually requires a background in high school math and science.

Many students reason that they hate math and science, and wouldn’t want a job that involved them anyway, but this is wishful thinking. There are many great jobs that do require math and science, which may seem boring and frustrating in the training phase but exciting and well-paying in the actual employment phase. It would be a shame to ditch the subject in high school, just to find out later on that your dream job requires those credits.

Unfortunately high school has a way of making these essential subjects seem distasteful to young people. It would help to think of them thus: rather than the “hard” or “boring” subjects, they are a study of the building blocks and logistics of life and the working universe. Try to see the practical applications of mathematical and scientific principles in the world around you. Try to think from the perspective of someone who hates their boring dead-end job, wishes they could understand the world around them better, and would feel lucky to be supported in spending all day learning about it. Out of high school, you may never again have the opportunity.

You wouldn’t normally consider firewood and firewood storage, with all the chopping and manual labor involved, to be heavily influenced by math, but you would be wrong! Firewood is generally sold in a unit known as a ‘cord’. A cord of firewood is 128 cubic feet of firewood, which in general terms is a pile of firewood eight feet wide by four feet tall by four feet deep.

So when you’re purchasing your firewood rack you need to strongly consider how much is the most firewood you’ll be likely to purchase at any given point in time. You also need to consider the dimensions of your yard and how much space you want to take up for firewood storage.

It’s also essential to consider that a log of firewood that you intend to burn will not be four feet long (the depth in the calculation above); it is much more likely to be two feet long. So that naturally changes the other dimensions necessary to store a full cord of firewood. Most people do not advocate piling firewood higher than four feet, so that naturally means the width of the firewood rack needs to be adjusted.

Since the depth was halved, the width now needs to double to store the full 128 cubic feet. So in fact, if you want to store one cord, your firewood rack needs to be sixteen feet wide! That’s a lot of real estate space just for storing firewood. Because of that, most people purchase an eight foot wide rack that will store one half a cord of firewood (64 cubic feet).

Taking Calculus senior year in high school officially turned me off to math, as it probably does for many high schoolers.  While the practicality and logical application of other math subjects is obvious, Calculus is just too advanced for practical application.  While it’s great for future math majors, its complexity and disconnect with the real world make it off-putting.  In fact it could be argued that forcing teens to take advanced math is partially to blame for our crisis with STEM.

Basic math is critical for survival; that was true long ago and it certainly still holds true today.  Even the most basic activities in the home in some way or another intersect with basic math.  Whether it’s your printer telling you that your ink cartridge has just one-quarter left to go, or your attempt at filling out a bank deposit slip for several checks you received, it’s critical that you understand basic math to carry on.

Perhaps if high school and even college classes were most focused on the practical application of concepts in the real world, or even based more around current events, students would be more likely to comprehend and apply what they are learning.  Generally speaking the education system (at least in the US) is broken, primarily because it’s taking too long to evolve.

The logic of math is something people like to believe in to feel secure, as are our understandings or leanings on any science. As humans we need something to believe in or base our actions on, but in reality any science is based on assumption & progressed by logic, therefore there is no possible way of it being correct as much as we would like to thing it is. All our moral beliefs, our understanding of right or wrong is again based on assumption or logic, while growing up within society we accept base assumptions & we progress on them using logic & we make conclusions of our set of rights or wrongs, again based on some initial assumption. The most “progressed” of us that think they have developed super human skills know that as much as it hurts we are still psychologically attached to some given assumptions. If you progress beyond what you think is possible, you’ll easily lie, cheat, kill, have no sense of “human” right or wrong, basically do whatever you wish you did without giving it a second thought. This is weirdly very close to being a sociopath. That said, even a sociopath is attached to some basic core assumptions, there isn’t a psychological freedom from some core beliefs, notions, whole entity. Even a complete insane sociopath views himself or herself as a part of something bigger, as a particle within many particles.

As human beings we always try to progress, we use science, arts or other forms of mental or physical activities to develop something that we don’t know what it is; we teach, we learn, we draw conclusions, yet the sheer reality is that our most perfect state is when we first appear on the globe as a new born. Analyzing newborns’ minds will most likely answer all the questions we have.

From the ancient Greeks to current, modern societies, mathematics has always been regarded as vital to our understanding of the world around us. 

As such maths features heavily in a child’s development and education, from a very young age.   Integrating maths and play is often the initial starting point for this.  This can be noted in playful interactive books in schools, in board games such as snakes and ladders, as well as in other forms such as hopscotch and numbered graphics in wet pour surfaces in playgrounds up and down the country.

Mathematics is vital in many modern industries, none less so than computing and the internet.   The famous British mathematician Turing is regarded as one of the founders of modern computers that are now commonplace. 

So without maths what would the world around us be like?

Let’s face it, math has a major role in every aspect of our life. Take even arts like music, music meters. tempos are all again based on math. Healthcare is not an exception, moreover healthcare studies are all statistically based, so yet again, math is a major link.

The research, published in Diabetes Care, recorded the dietary habits of 71,346 female nurses ages 38-63 years for 18 years, with contact every four years. None of the group initially had diabetes, heart disease, or cancer.

The results of eating three servings of fruit and green vegetables a day was not associated with any increase in diabetes. Instead, eating whole fruit was associated with a significant reduction in risk of the disease. Eating one green vegetable a day also statistically lowered diabetes risk. However, women who increased fruit intake by means of fruit juices had a higher incidence of DM.

Based on mathematical ratios & statistic we conclude that eating vegetables and generally eating less high cholesterol foods reduces the risk of heart disease. New research has shown that women who eat whole fruit instead of drinking fruit juice are less likely to develop type 2 diabetes. Women who include whole fruit in their diets rather than fruit juice may reduce their risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to a multi-site study.

The outcomes and conclusions are interesting, but leave many questions. For instance, diabetics are known to have a sweet tooth. Consuming fruit juice could have been a result of a craving for something sweet  that preceded the dietary manifestation. Juices are concentrated and have higher glucose content. The ingestion of leafy greens and whole fruit suggests those nurses probably didn’t have high-fat diets, or have other habits that would increase diabetes risk, like smoking. I’d be curious to know about the other foods that made up the diets of those with and without the diagnosis of diabetes through the study period.

Also, were those consuming juice overweight? Overweight can contribute to developing diabetes.

How do we calculate BMI? YOU GOT IT! MATH!! This is what we need to understand, every little particle of our organism can have a mathematical view, every single thing we do during our daily life has a mathematical interpretation. Sure, we don’t like to view it that way, but it is what it is.

The formula to calculate the Potential Renal Acid Load of a foodstuff, devised by Thomas Remer, Fredrich Manz (see Potential renal acid load of foods and its influence on urine pH), is below.

This is an important calculation as it helps us to establish the acid/base load of the foods we consume. An acid or alkaline diet is not the only indicator of health. However, if one’s diet is too acidic, this can lead to long-term health consequences. As an example, osteoporosis, is in large part caused by a condition known as metabolic acidosis – too much acid in the body. Diet plays a key nutritional role.

The mathematics of PRAL are plain to see. What is possibly more confusing is knowing what different PRAL values mean. Let us now turn to this. A value of zero is neutral. Therefore this would be neither an acidic or base effect upon the human body. Oils and fats typically have values very close to zero.

Positive values tell us that a food is acidifying to the human body. Meats and grains produce positive PRAL values.

Negative values indicate that a food has a base (alkaline) forming effect on the human body. Fruits and vegetables produce negative PRAL values.

PRAL is not the only indicator of a healthy diet. The formula is beneficial nevertheless. It codifies preciesly why particular foods do, or do not, have acid/base effects upon the human body.

Growing up, it’s easy for a lot of kids to want to blow off mathematics — after all, for many it doesn’t seem like a fun or engaging subject.  Many teachers find themselves looking for unique and interesting ways to teach math to their students in a way that is memorable and also engages them in the learning process.

One such teacher, Jennifer Meale, while applying her favorite hair care product, mira hair oil, had the idea to teach math to her middle school students by taking them on a field trip to a local salon.  What could have been a mundane lecture about geometry turned into a fascinating display of layered hair cuts, bold hair colors, and the finances of running a hair salon.  Think about it — hair stylists must use certain angles to cut hair layers to perfection and just the right ratio of hair color and developer to create the best color for their clients.  The finances of running a hair salon also involves myriad math skills, all of which are excellent learning opportunities for students.

If you’re a teacher, consider using the hair salon model for your students’ mathematics education.  It’s sure to be a fun experience for all involved!

I never got to the real advanced math classes in school. In fact the last math class I ever took in college would have seen me failing if it weren’t for a good friend who tutored me enough so that I could pass. But I always was good at adding, subtracting, dividing, and understanding the relationships between numbers. In other words, I am very good at simple math or everyday math that really can come in handy.

The truth is that I might have had to file for unemployment sometime in my life if it weren’t for my basic math abilities. The reason for this is that most of the jobs I have had required me to be able to do simple math quickly in my head.

Straight out of college I started playing poker and although not many people realize it, you need math skills to be good at it. While there is a big luck factor, the player who can get his money into the pot with a mathematical advantage the most will stand the best chance of winning over the long run. Good poker players are often good at math and they might not even know they are using it.

One of the first “real” jobs I ever had was a being a bank teller. You don’t need to know algebra or anything like that but you do need to know how to count and give change. You can deal with a lot of money over the course of a day and balancing at night was real scary at first. If you don’t balance then you won’t last long as a teller, that is for sure.

My next job was one where I went to different companies and looked through their books hoping to recover money for them. Again, you need to be real good at simple math for this because you need to be able to quickly identify instances where they might have overpaid or not taken enough discount. You have to be quick on your feet with addition and multiplication and you need to be able to easily identify numbers on a page that might be out of whack and don’t look right.

So, there you have it. My first three jobs in life all had a math component and I am glad I was able to learn the basics in school. Kids always wonder and ask why they need to be learning math because they think they will never need it later in life. The truth is though, that you never really know when something you learn in high school or college will be useful to you down the road.

My son is studying at Warwick University which is generally considered to be the best university in the UK for mathematics. Maths is not his subject, but he has hooked up with a girl who is a maths student and in the past she has remarked about that lack of good sources on the internet where she can find publications on mathematics. Fortunately she has access to a first class library on campus, but it would be much more convenient to open her laptop and find what she needs. As mentioned elsewhere on this page, Google treats a mathematics page as just another page on the web, which I suppose is understandable, but if papers could be accessed from one central point, how much more convenient that would be. So well done to the authors of this website.

My son is studying accountancy, which is very useful as I have a business selling gifts showing the customer’s family crest and he does my books for me, reducing the company tax bill by quite a tidy sum. I started my family crests business relatively late in life. I have always been interested in heraldry, so researching customers’ family crests is a pleasure rather than a chore; not something I could say about the subject of mathematics!

In my high school and college careers there was many times in which I questioned the value of math in my life. Truth be told I did not realize all the real world applications that I would use Math for. In this article we are going to talk about some great real world examples that help students understand the importance of learning about math. Whether you are trying to calculate a mortgage when buying St George Real Estate or a car math can make this possible.

The first way that math applies to the real world will be in your job. Many of today’s occupations rely on some sort of math to prove value. For example within the marketing field you will need to show value for the work you have completed. Therefore you will need to use math to demonstrate this value or you might be out of a job. This proving of value is also important because as you show what money you have made for your company you become more important. Being more important within the work place when ensure you make more money.

The next way in which math is very important within the real world is personal finance. When you are living you will have expenses. You need to make sure your expenses do not out pace what you are earning. This simple example demonstrates the value of simple math and budgeting. With math you will be able to find your way in the real world and earn more money.

It is true; mathematics is the universal language that pretty much governs the entire universe and everything we know as human beings.  Given is complexity there are very few people who truly understand the complex nature of the mathematical language.  I for one am not in that elite few, albeit I wish I was, I was one of those students who struggled greatly with the subject and took advantage of the computer and calculator age to aide me in anything having to do with math.

We will however see no future technological achievements without continuing to study and become better at math.  Never will we create hyper drives to travel to other star systems without math, or never will we be able to even solve the debt relief crisis without advanced math.  The bottom line is it is probably the single most important subject you can learn and try to master while studying in school.

Even basic math is a pure necessity for everyday living for things such as balancing a checkbook, working a register, even the lowlifes of the underworld need to understand at least basic math to ensure they are getting what they are due.  So it is without a shadow of a doubt the one true universal language not only of our world but the entire universe; any space faring civilization would need to understand math on an intimidate level that us humans cannot even fathom at this time.

The term cipher implies a technique of keeping information secure and unreadable accept to the intended recipient.  It’s often described as ‘secret writing’ – and involved transforming normal text into a cryptogram that is an encrypted message.  This process is described as encipherment and bringing back  the message from it’s encrypted state is known as decipherment.

There are many types of cipher but in general they fall into three major classifications.

Concealment

The concealment cipher involves hiding the true letters of the message by whatever method is available.  Perhaps the most striking part of this cipher as that it is intended to obscure that the message is encrypted or protected in any way.  For instance it could be hidden as a phrase in a normal message or perhaps concealed in an image or graphic.  If the concealment cipher is successful then nobody other than the recipient should be aware of it’s existence.

Substitution 

The  Substitution cipher,  involves replacing the original characters of the message with substitutes and these are arranged in the same order as the originals.  There can of course be many combinations of these substitutions in a single cipher or message.

Transposition 

In this method the true letters of the message are  taken out of their original order and then rearranged.  This arrangement is done by using an agreed pattern or key agreed upon by the correspondents.

Every encryption method will normally fit into one these categories.  This includes all the advanced modern encryption methods like DES or AES.   For example the well used and highly secure Advanced Encryption system used by the US military and the most secure anonymous surfing methods – it is actually a form of substitution cipher.  AES was originally known as Rijndael and  the substitution method is quite complicated and uses a series of permutations in order to further secure the plain text.

Over human history encryption has been used to protect communication methods,  however the most important application and developments are now to be seen in the areas of electronic communication.   The pressing urge for effective security online is partly because of the huge amount of data being transmitted electronically but also because of a fundamental weakness of a major infrastructure component.

We are talking of course about HTTP – HyperText Transfer Protocol, which is the primary means of access the billions of pages of content on the internet.  The issue is that this protocol operates completely in clear text which means that the information is not protected in any way.  As with traditional messages, clear text means that anyone can read the content if they have access to it – much like a postcard in a post office sorting office.  It is essential that communication is protected by some form of encryption method which is able to deal with the intense demands of the internet.

When people talk about math and wine fitting together, they’re usually talking about wine in terms of the programming language and not the drink.

I’m talking about the drink.

It’s more interesting and certainly more fun!

So how can the Mathematics Survery and math in general go together with wine and winemaking, or even a wine of the month club?

Most people aren’t aware, but the average winemaker gets into the professional with a math and science background.  Attention to detail is one of the most important parts of the job in fact.  Additionally, even organic wines often have sulfur or another ingredient or two added at some point of the production process.  Getting the wrong amount of sulfur would certainly ruin the wine, as would picking the wrong amount of grapes from a certain clone of fruit.

It’s funny, but math tends to find its way into much more of our daily lives then we initially think it does.