In this way mathematics follows its own logic, beginning with patterns from science and completing the portrait by adding all patterns that derive from the initial ones. They have increased by a millionfold the portfolio of patterns investigated by mathematical scientists. As this portfolio grows, so do the applications of mathematics and the cross-linkages among subdisiciplines of mathematics. Because of computers, we see more than ever before that mathematical discovery is like scientific discovery. It begins with the search for pattern in data - perhaps in numbers, but often in geometric or algebraic structures.
Generalization leads to abstraction, to patterns in the mind .
Theories emerge as patterns of patterns, and significance is measured by the degree to which patterns in one area link to patterns in other areas. Subtle patterns with the greatest explanatory power become the deepest results, forming the foundations for entire subdisciplines. This concludes my summary of the article by Lynn Arthur Steen. Just for an indication of where my emotions leaped on reading this material, I have colored the some words or phrases accordingly. The idea that a pattern is perceived means to me that there is no pattern without a being that perceives it.