"Why Study Mathematics?"

Why should anyone study mathematics? This type of question is not peculiar to mathematics nor to the field of education. Let us look at a corresponding situation in the field of business. Suppose an automobile salesman attempts to sell a car, what are some of the questions he has to answer? The buyer wants to know the make of the car and compares it with other makes from the standpoint of beauty, service, and economy. Before the sale can be made the salesman must present convincing argument on all of these points and surely no real salesman will attempt such a task without being thoroughly familiar with the car himself. While the analogy may not be complete from the case of the automobile salesman to that of the teacher of mathematics, yet it is certainly true that the teachers of mathematics are primarily the ones who should be able to “sell” mathematics to the “doubting public.” There are two questions that every mathematics teacher should be able to answer if he is to be able to give an intelligent answer to the one already proposed: they are “What is mathematics?” and “What relation does mathematics have to the cultural, industrial, and recreational activities of a progressive civilization?”