A problem of perception For more than three centuries, British mathematicians have had a profound influence on the world's cultural, scientific and technological development. Today, however, mathematics in the UK, as in much of the developed world, is in trouble. Lack of resources and a critical shortage of suitably qualified graduates entering teaching mean that it is too often poorly taught, basic skills and understanding are in decline, and there is a general conception that mathematics is a very difficult and boring subject.
People are proud of being bad at it.
Yet if we neglect mathematics now then the consequences will be far-reaching for business and industry and therefore employment and society as a whole in the very near future. No major technological nation can afford to let its mathematical base erode away. Mathematics underpins all of the sciences and is critical to the development of new areas of technological expertise and their commercial exploitation computing, biotechnology, telecommunications, aircraft design, medical imaging and genetic research are just a handful of the applications which translate complex mathematical theories into tangible practical benefits. All of this mathematics goes on, all the time, and it is playing a major role in creating our world - but it all happens behind the scenes. And so people whose lives have been revolutionised by mathematics still imagine that its high points are long division, the solution of quadratic equations, or elementary trigonometry.