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Question about Maths TR031

DublinArnie

Hey!

Currently in 5th year, and just thinking of the courses and job possibilities out there.

Maths is probably my favourite subject in school, just because I like solving problems and at the end of the day finding what X is and what not. I'm pretty sure I'd like to involve maths in any course I decide to do.

Just thinking though, if I do the maths degree - is there any possibility to branch out to any sort of engineering through the last few years? I'm particularly interested in aeronautical engineering (space flight, air craft etc) and having a hard time seeing a different route to it besides doing Theoretical Physics (quite a lot of points unfortunately). Also, would engineering get me there? Is there a slight cross-section with Engineering and Maths in the final years?

I know a degree and certificate isn't the end all and be all, as you can apply the skills you learnt to many fields, but where would Maths get me if I was to do it?

Thanks, would really appreciate someone to fill me in.

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EuropeanSon

It very much depends on how good you are at it. Really good maths graduates are valuable in a huge number of fields.

For engineering, I'd imagine there would be opportunities if you had a little work experience too - if not, a postgraduate of some sort might be needed to get somewhere. TP would probably be better for you too from an engineering perspective.

As far as other opportunities go, there are loads. People from my course who I know have worked/are working at trading companies, in a variety of other roles in finance, at Google, in a high performance computing company, in actuarial work, and of those who went on to postgraduate stuff, I know a guy who's doing genomics at Oxford, people studying economics, as well as the obvious maths postgraduate stuff.

amymak

I'm going into my third year in engineering now, and we do a LOT of maths in our course. Two modules every year is pure math and most of the other modules are at least half mathematics and are generally more.

Engineering, physics and maths are all just different ways of looking at maths.

Maths -> Pure theoretical maths
Physics -> Maths and how it relates to the physical world
Engineering -> Using maths to solve real world problems.

If the main thing you enjoy about maths is the problem solving, it's likely that engineering is the one for you. If you just enjoy numbers and equations and their beauty and love finding out how those equations came to be, you should do maths.

Physics is somewhere in between.

EuropeanSon

amymak wrote: »

I'm going into my third year in engineering now, and we do a LOT of maths in our course. Two modules every year is pure math and most of the other modules are at least half mathematics and are generally more.

Engineering, physics and maths are all just different ways of looking at maths.

Maths -> Pure theoretical maths
Physics -> Maths and how it relates to the physical world
Engineering -> Using maths to solve real world problems.

If the main thing you enjoy about maths is the problem solving, it's likely that engineering is the one for you. If you just enjoy numbers and equations and their beauty and love finding out how those equations came to be, you should do maths.

Physics is somewhere in between.

This is a very inaccurate statement. Most of both maths and physics are about problem solving. The above makes it sound like a history lesson. I learned nothing about mathematical history in any of my modules, except the occasional anecdote from a lecturer.

The problems not being "real world" problems (which in itself is not entirely accurate, eg cryptography, decision theory, probability theory, mathematical biology, certainly solve real world problems) does not mean they aren't problems.

The whole of the above post shows a fairly poor understanding of the subject matter, I think.

DublinArnie

EuropeanSon wrote: »

This is a very inaccurate statement. Most of both maths and physics are about problem solving. The above makes it sound like a history lesson. I learned nothing about mathematical history in any of my modules, except the occasional anecdote from a lecturer.

The problems not being "real world" problems (which in itself is not entirely accurate, eg cryptography, decision theory, probability theory, mathematical biology, certainly solve real world problems) does not mean they aren't problems.

The whole of the above post shows a fairly poor understanding of the subject matter, I think.

I'd like your input then.

It's really hard to figure out what I truly want, as I'm tied between the sciences, maths and engineering. Maybe there could be a way to combine all three in fields such as biomedical engineering or something, but I really have no clue.

The more in-sight I get, the better I suppose. I've emailed a few schools in Trinity College about this as well.

amymak

EuropeanSon wrote: »

This is a very inaccurate statement. Most of both maths and physics are about problem solving. The above makes it sound like a history lesson. I learned nothing about mathematical history in any of my modules, except the occasional anecdote from a lecturer.

The problems not being "real world" problems (which in itself is not entirely accurate, eg cryptography, decision theory, probability theory, mathematical biology, certainly solve real world problems) does not mean they aren't problems.

The whole of the above post shows a fairly poor understanding of the subject matter, I think.

I think you misunderstood the point I was trying to make. The main thing I wanted to get across was that you do a lot of maths in engineering. I got the impression that the OP thought that engineers did a minimum amount of maths. Of course you do problem solving in maths itself, but the different disciplines have different focuses and depending on which aspect of maths you enjoy, you should choose a different discipline.

You should do engineering if what you like about maths is the solving problems, if you don't care that much about exactly how you got an equation (i.e. Deriving it, not the history of the mathematician who came up with it.) If that is just what you want to see yourself doing: solving real world problems, engineering is the way to go.

As I say, of course you deal with real-world problems in maths, but that's not the focus of a maths degree. I think for maths, you need to find some joy in numbers themselves and not be content with knowing an equation works, but also want to know where the equation comes from. (i.e. know the theorem and how to derive it, not the mathematical history of the equation) Yes, you do real world applications in maths, but you'll be miserable if you don't get enjoyment from the theoretical stuff.

Maybe_Memories

amymak wrote: »

I think for maths, you need to find some joy in numbers themselves

That's grand except the majority of maths has very little to do with numbers.

amymak

Maybe_Memories wrote: »

That's grand except the majority of maths has very little to do with numbers.

You know what I mean. I'm well aware that you deal primarily with letters once you get to college. "Numbers" is a shorthand for equations, Laplace transforms, matrices, Fourier series, complex numbers, triple integrals, whatever floats your boat.

DublinArnie

@amymak I really appreciate your help.

Engineering seems good, as the first two years seem very diverse. I'm wondering about the specifications in 3rd and 4th year though, are there any that cross-sect with the Maths or Science course (.i.e Biomedical with Engineering/Science)? I'm wondering because would the degree be the same value if you specialise on the same topic (if there is one..) for Science/Maths/Engineering?

EuropeanSon

amymak wrote: »

I think you misunderstood the point I was trying to make. The main thing I wanted to get across was that you do a lot of maths in engineering. I got the impression that the OP thought that engineers did a minimum amount of maths. Of course you do problem solving in maths itself, but the different disciplines have different focuses and depending on which aspect of maths you enjoy, you should choose a different discipline.

You should do engineering if what you like about maths is the solving problems, if you don't care that much about exactly how you got an equation (i.e. Deriving it, not the history of the mathematician who came up with it.) If that is just what you want to see yourself doing: solving real world problems, engineering is the way to go.

As I say, of course you deal with real-world problems in maths, but that's not the focus of a maths degree. I think for maths, you need to find some joy in numbers themselves and not be content with knowing an equation works, but also want to know where the equation comes from. (i.e. know the theorem and how to derive it, not the mathematical history of the equation) Yes, you do real world applications in maths, but you'll be miserable if you don't get enjoyment from the theoretical stuff.

We don't really do much real world applications, my point is that problem solving is far from being restricted to real world problems.

If you enjoy solving mathematical problem solving, you'll do far more of that in a maths course than in any other course, engineering included.

You seem to be confusing "real world applications of maths" with problem solving. The two are very different things.

I do agree that the OP sounds like he'd enjoy the practical aspects of engineering more.

EuropeanSon

DublinArnie wrote: »

I'd like your input then.

It's really hard to figure out what I truly want, as I'm tied between the sciences, maths and engineering. Maybe there could be a way to combine all three in fields such as biomedical engineering or something, but I really have no clue.

The more in-sight I get, the better I suppose. I've emailed a few schools in Trinity College about this as well.

I think engineering certainly sounds like a good prospect, in that you do deal with more practical applications than you would in maths.

Based on your responses and points I think you'd prefer it to the maths course.

While there is a lot of problem solving in maths, it is more abstract and distant from real world stuff. My main disagreement with the other poster was their claims that it wasn't problem solving, and the confusing of "problem solving" with "dealing with real world things". The two are completely different things.