Letters: Maths and industry

In “Zero in on maths” (September 10), Devangshu Datta makes a pertinent point about the need for promoting research in mathematics. Sir Isaac Newton called it “the queen and servant of mankind”. There is no branch of human life that does not use maths. Right from the simple counting of paisa and rupees to the application of linear programming in market research and production planning, maths has become indispensable.

Yet the phobia and the neglect of maths persist in society. It has much to do with the desultory style of teaching the subject and the non-extension of pure research in maths to practical usage. The industrial managers’ indifference to this science arises from their fear of losing the power of intuitional decision making to rational decision models that maths create.

But in today’s industry, what cannot be measured cannot be appreciated and, as per Lord Kelvin, there is nothing that cannot be quantified. Therefore, though the government should promote and reward maths research, managers from staff and service departments need to be maths savvy as much as they have to be computer savvy, if they want to survive and get noticed.

Y G Chouksey, Pune