本文由 资源共享网 – ziyuan 发布，转载请注明出处，如有问题请联系我们！Applied Mathematics：A Very Short Introduction

When meeting new people at a party, it is customary, out of politeness, to ask what one does. When it happens, I usually mumble that I am a doctor, but not the real kind, just the academic kind. Then, if further questioned, I admit that I am mathematician, but not the real kind, just the applied kind. Then, the

dreadful question comes: what is applied mathematics? In desperation, I use one of the usual witty platitudes (‘It is like mathematics but useful and more fun’, ‘We are the social kind, we look at other people’s shoes’, ‘Applied

mathematics is to pure mathematics, what pop music is to classical music’). After the awkward pause that sums up most of my human interactions, I look for the closest exit, convinced that further contact would inevitably deepen my existentialist crisis. As I walk out I ask myself if I could really make an honest statement about my own field of study that has also become my way of life. Why is applied mathematics so different from scientific disciplines and so clearly unlike pure mathematics? How could I possibly explain the constant excitement and fun that it brings to my intellectual life?