Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 9, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 January 1918 — Mathematics a Powerful Factor in Our Material and Economic Progress [ARTICLE]

Mathematics a Powerful Factor in Our Material and Economic Progress

Whatever may be said of mathematics as a “whetstone of the wits” or as a mental discipline, the fact remains that the chief vitalizing factor of the subject is found in its practical uses. Historically speaking, observes S. D. Macdonald of the Colorado Agricultural college, much of our advanced mathematics, as well as most of our elementary mathematics, sprang as a necessity out of very practical conditions. ■* x It has been remarked that “man measures and conquers,” and industrially speaking we may safely affirm that man’s conquest depends very largely upon iris ability to measure accurately. This task of measurement may be a problem in arithmetic, as the measurement of an excavation in terms of cubic yards or human hands or horse power or money, or the measurement may involve a more advanced knowledge, as the measurement of the length of an elliptical curve, or of a cable swinging freely between two supports, Brooklyn bridge for example. And let it be emphasized that this measurement is not complete until it is expressed in terms of known units that- would be useful in a builder’s bid or contract. So mathematics, more than we realize, is a powerful factor in our material and economic progress.