Other branches might be geometry, algebra, trigonometry, and so on. The evolution of computers in the past twenty years has increased the importance of certain areas of mathematics, especially graphical displays of information. Mathematics continues to grow, develop, and evolve. Underlying all these branches, strands, or topics is one powerful idea. Mathematics is the science of patterns .
Mathematical concepts express relations.
We try to understand relations between objects and between ideas and objects. We look for relations among concepts and we try to see patterns in these relationships. The NCTM Standards encourage teachers to go beyond the mathematics of the 19th century. It is not that the arithmetic that shopkeepers did by hand 100 years ago is useless. The point is that we cannot make that part of mathematics the main focus of what students do in schools.