A chara, – Prof Peter Lynch (Science, August 1st) stresses the lengthy time-scales required for mathematics to bear fruit by identifying Hamilton’s contribution to the modern video game industry, which last time we looked was valued at €67 billion worldwide, and growing.
Given, in the words of Prof Lynch, that it is “daft and dangerous” to expect mathematics to have an economic impact in the life cycle of the Dáil, this presents a dilemma for funding bodies. Either one continues to fund mathematics with the required long-term vision, or one drops it completely. It is meaningless to expect immediate applications.
At present one has the intriguing situation in where the Government is pushing STEM subjects, including mathematics (M), to students as the basis for our knowledge economy, yet mathematics is not taken seriously at third level. Perhaps the M is for convenience? STE simply just does not have the same ring and is one letter away from a class of contagious diseases. – Is mise,
Dr EOIN O COLGAIN,
Departamento de Fisica,
Universidad de Oviedo,
Spain.