What is any math degree good for?

Post #145,562 by ben_tilly 3/11/04 11:09:00 AM Reply	What is any math degree good for? It is good for what a regular math degree is good for. Going on in math, getting jobs that require a university degree, and going on to become something like a lawyer. Understanding fields in which there are historical applications of math is not required to understand math perfectly well. Furthermore (depending on your interests) it is possible to find all sorts of applications of math outside of the sciences. A few non-science areas where a math background would be good include social sciences (particularly if your math had a focus on statistics), law school, and philosophy. You may have had issues with other things about this person. But the degree described seems quite reasonable to me. At least from my perspective as someone with a graduate-level math education. Cheers, Ben "good ideas and bad code build communities, the other three combinations do not" - [link\|http://archives.real-time.com/pipermail/cocoon-devel/2000-October/003023.html\|Stefano Mazzocchi]
Post #145,579 by mmoffitt 3/11/04 11:31:43 AM Reply	As a person with a grad Math degree myself, I would point out that perhaps the most important thing the study of mathematics provides is not its value as vocational training, but that it teaches you how to think logically. This is especially true (if you don't go the applied route) in graduate school. Most non-mathematics majors I encounter are quite surprised when I tell them that in the last 3 semesters of graduate classes I took none of my textbooks had numbers in them, except to ennumerate problems to be solved, and none of "the answers" involved numbers at all. I think that's the real tragedy of the general population's understanding of mathematics - they think its all about finding some numerical answer. In short, that all of mathematics is merely arithmetic! bcnu, Mikem I don't do third world languages. So no, I don't do Java.
Post #145,585 by hnick 3/11/04 11:43:41 AM Reply	Sure, I suppose that's why they offer it I'm an engineer, so my default viewpoint tends to value applied math. I do tend to be suspicious of people with no engineering or scientific background fitting themselves in an engineering envirionment as a peer of engineers. That's just me.
Post #145,591 by ben_tilly 3/11/04 11:50:33 AM Reply	Understandable I can understand why your default viewpoint values applied math. But the fact that you know more of the math that you value doesn't mean that you know more math than the other person that you're dealing with. The areas of math that you know is a much smaller part of math than you likely realize. OTOH I definitely hear your doubt of non-engineers in engineering positions. But Andrew Grygus has some things to say on that topic that I hope you hear some day... Cheers, Ben "good ideas and bad code build communities, the other three combinations do not" - [link\|http://archives.real-time.com/pipermail/cocoon-devel/2000-October/003023.html\|Stefano Mazzocchi]
Post #145,595 by deSitter 3/11/04 11:55:11 AM Reply	Re: Sure, I suppose that's why they offer it Right - it's a mindset more than a skillset. "Let's make this thing." This isn't a knock of math education. I would say, go back and get the engineering MS, but guess what? You'd join the growing list of unemployed American engineers. Check out the stats for unemployment among EEs, the cream of the crop. EE is as hard as physics as a degree program - maybe harder because of labs. -drl

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