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Are Mathematicians Turning Soft?

April 26, 2017mathematicians soft Turning

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Are Mathematicians Turning Soft?

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“Soft Mathematics” is the title of an article I wrote for Mathematics Awareness Week 96, which takes place April 21-27. The theme for this year is Mathematics and Decision Making. The focus of my article is the blend of mathematics and techniques of the social sciences that is increasingly prevalent in economics, management science, psychology, cognitive science, sociology, linguistics, and the like. The article appears on the Mathematics Awareness Week Web entry, which can be accessed directly from MAA Online. Choose Resources for Mathematics and Decision Making and then pick Original Articles. By “soft mathematics” I don’t mean “applied mathematics.” Nor do I mean “mathematical modeling.” And I certainly don’t mean the use of statistics in the social sciences. Social scientists do indeed make frequent use of statistical techniques to collect the data for their study. There is no question that practically all sciences, natural or social, rely on mathematics in one way or another when