Mathematics
field of study
Mathematics is a field of knowledge concerned with abstract concepts such as numbers, geometric shapes, sets, functions, and probabilities. It uses logical reasoning and proof to study and establish their properties, often expressed as theorems, formulas, and equations. Mathematics is widely used to model and solve problems in science, engineering, technology, economics, and everyday life.
There are many areas of mathematics, including number theory (the study of integers and their properties), algebra (the study of operations and the structures they form), geometry (the study of shapes and spaces that contain them), analysis (the quantitative study of approximation and convergence), and set theory (presently used as a foundation for all mathematics).
Mathematics involves the description and manipulation of abstract objects that are either abstractions from nature or purely abstract entities that are stipulated to have certain properties, called axioms. Mathematics uses pure reason to prove the properties of objects through proofs, which consist of a succession of applications of deductive rules to already established results. These results, called theorems, include previously proved theorems, axioms, and—in case of abstraction from nature—some basic properties that are considered true starting points of the theory under consideration.
Mathematics is essential in science and engineering; it is widely used in every field of knowledge and in everyday life, as soon as data are manipulated, shapes, patterns, and structures are studied, and logical reasoning is needed. Although mathematics is widely used to model empirical phenomena, its results are established by deductive proof rather than by experiment. The relationship between mathematical truth, logic, and reality is a subject of philosophical debate.
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This entry incorporates text from “Mathematics” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.