Section 33.4 Closing Ideas
This is the first section in the final branch of this book. The ideas are about trying to bridge the gap between formal mathematics and applications. In this first section, we focused primarily on relationships between variables because this is the core value of mathematical reasoning. Translating quantitative relationships into mathematical equations is the key skill that employers want when they talk about wanting employees with "math ]skills." They don't need people to just perform calculations, since they have computers and calculators that can do that for them. They need people who can translate the needs of the business into a mathematical language that they can then use to make decisions. The problem of the two gyms in the worksheets is an example. There often isn't just a single answer. It depends on non-mathematical features of the situation that can't always be easily quantified.
And that's an important takeaway for thinking about applications of mathematics. It's not always the pursuit of "the" answer, but rather it's a tool to help you think about the situation and provide quantitative information to help with the decision-making process.