The Inevitability of Industrial Mathematics Just as the term 'Information Technology' has replaced 'Computer Science' so 'Industrial Mathematics' is replacing 'Applied Mathematics'.
Applied mathematicians suffer from the word 'mathematics'.
Mathematicians are perceived to be abstract and somewhat irrelevant individuals best kept at arm's length. To illustrate this point I wish to tell three stories. The first concerns a mathematician, a medical man and a lawyer. They are asked whether they preferred a wife or a mistress. The doctor also responded quickly, preferring a mistress on the grounds that he was all for an active, healthy life.