数学が私達の暮らしや科学に重要な役割を果たしていることは想像に難くありません。純粋数学が主に抽象的な分野を取り扱うのに対し、実社会との繋がりを橋渡しする役割を担うのが応用数学です。初期には物理学や工学で活用され、戦後は独立した学問として発展を遂げてきました。歴史的経緯から現在の応用、そして課題などを考察しながら応用数学の可能性を探ります。コンパクトながら、純粋数学、科学、工学との関連性にも迫ります。
 

• Introduces applied mathematics, and explains its relationship with pure mathematics, science, and engineering
• Explores the role of applied mathematics within science and society, and discusses the range of its uses
• Illustrates the far-reaching potential of the field through historical examples and current applications

 
Mathematics is playing an increasing important role in society and the sciences, enhancing our ability to use models and handle data. While pure mathematics is mostly interested in abstract structures, applied mathematics sits at the interface between this abstract world and the world in which we live. This area of mathematics takes its nourishment from society and science and, in turn, provides a unified way to understand problems arising in diverse fields. 

This Very Short Introduction presents a compact yet comprehensive view of the field of applied mathematics, and explores its relationships with (pure) mathematics, science, and engineering. Explaining the nature of applied mathematics, Alain Goriely discusses its early achievements in physics and engineering, and its development as a separate field after World War II. Using historical examples, current applications, and challenges, Goriely illustrates the particular role that mathematics plays in the modern sciences today and its far-reaching potential.