Mathematics is one thing and many things at once. It is the basic language of science and technology – a language that is universally valid and always current, without which the advances of modern society would be impossible. This has never been truer than it is today, as we witness a veritable explosion in the application of mathematical models in numerous fields of science, technology, the humanities, etc. Mathematics clearly plays an essential role in the information and communication society. Data processing and statistics play an important role in practically all fields of science. But mathematics is also research – interdisciplinary and application-oriented, or motivated by mathematics itself. As an intellectual activity, mathematics research is also creation, discovery, exploration and even passion. It is a proven fact – one which has even become a stereotype – that mathematics stimulates and strengthens intellectual qualities such as the capacity for analysis and assimilation and the ability to deeply penetrate the structure of things and problems.
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