I'm not quite sure whether my initial dislike for maths as a child was down to me or my uninspired and somewhat jaded teachers.
But whatever the reason, I'm glad I ultimately discovered its power, usefulness and above all, its true beauty.
Never in my wildest dreams when I was sat in my maths classes did, I think that I would care about or use the techniques relating to just how far and what bearing that ship was from that old light house! Now of course I use it on an almost daily basis as a professional Pilot. I also didn't realise how being good at maths would allow me to work out my aircrafts fuel burn, rates of descent, weight and performance calculations, all of which are safety critical parameters when flying any aircraft.
A friend of mine runs an I.T. business and uses maths on a daily basis. From programming computers to working out staff salaries and their associated taxes, to analysing business metrics related to profit and loss, it's all number crunching and using the data to make sense of and improve his business. In my case, it can cost lives if I get my numbers wrong!
Even if you don't believe you use maths on a daily basis, perhaps spare a thought for the times that you discuss your mortgage payments, car finance, credit card interest rates, diets and how many calories you can consume to fit into a particular dress size. How many minutes have you spent on your mobile phone today? How much mobile data have you downloaded? Will it cost more or less to use another provider? I could go on and on but I'm sure by now you get the picture.
Maths is probably a bigger part of your life than you might think. Not many people realise that. Human beings by their very nature make sense of their lives and improve them by continually working with and analysing data in number form.
Become better at it, and you will become more successful no matter what your goals are. So, if like me, maths is pie in the sky, it should always be 'understandable' pie in the sky!
Adam Berrington (Axiom)
