International Conference on Public Health

1. Mathematics in the Science and Art

Referring to the quote “Mathematics is the Queen of the Sciences by Carl Friedrich Gauss, we cannot denied that indeed mathematics is used everywhere in other disclipines. In Physics, partial differential equations is used heavily in hydrodynamics, electricity, thermodynamics, aerodynamics, etc., In economics,  game theory is applied to understand a large collection of economic behaviors, including behaviors of firms, markets, and consumers. In computer science, many cryptography scheme  relying on mathematics, especially algebraic number theory. In demography, statistics play in role.  Even in biology, we need mathematics to learn the detailed structure of DNA.

The importance of mathematics has been realized thousands years ago, especially in architecture. Some of the marvelous architectures of ancient world can be considered as the gifts of mathematics and geometry. The Pyramids of Egypt, Hanging garden of Babylon, the Colosseum of Rome are some examples of ancient architecture built with the aid of mathematical calculation and geometrical diagrams.

Not only in science and engineering, even within art, one uses mathematics to create beautiful art with high accuracy. One of the example is the work of Escher [1898-1972]. He creates an extraordinary visualization based on mathematical principles such as tessellation, polyhedra, and projective geometry. Nowadays, mathematicians and artists continue to create stunning works in all media and to explore the visualization of mathematics such as origami, computer-generated landscapes, fractals, etc. Not surprising, mathematics also used to produce an astonishing animation movies. They use geometric technique of subdivision surfaces to represent complex surfaces and complicated shapes efficiently, while maintaining an illusion of smoothness.