Mathematics as a crowbar
According to Jekel, mathematics is the crowbar for tackling all major problems. “Mathematics is the language of nature. All technology and progress has mathematical components in it. Whether we do something useful with it is up to people.”
The famous Dutch mathematician Lex Schreffer once said: “Mathematics is like oxygen. If it was there, you wouldn’t notice it. If it wasn’t there, you would notice that you couldn’t live without it.” Mathematics is the basis of many things, but it is often invisible.
Invisible mathematics
According to Childers, mathematicians are very humble, but that is also because they often work in the background during the process. Childers argues that the Netherlands could be more innovative and could have greater international competitiveness if we made better use of mathematicians and if more young people were enthusiastic about the profession.
That’s why he’s her manager Netherlands mathematics platform It also works to get young people excited about mathematics. And on Wednesday evening March 1 there is one public evening Six leading scientists will talk about how mathematics can help solve the world’s biggest problems.
