Careers in Mathematics
What are FUN careers for math?
There are few careers for math all by itself. However, there is a great demand for people that can apply math to solve problems. It's a lot like writing skills. They are most valuable when you use them to write ABOUT something important. For example, if you are very skilled at writing, and also know a lot about cooking, you could write a popular cook book. Folks that understand math, and can apply it to solve important problems are in great demand. In my job, I constantly use math to solve problems. That is why they hired me. It's important to keep in mind that LEARNING math is a lot different than USING math. It is a lot like the difference between learning Spanish, and speaking Spanish. In Spanish class, you must spend hours memorizing lists of words and learning how Spanish grammar works. Once you have learned it, however, speaking Spanish is no effort at all. In my job, I use math as much for communication of ideas as I use math to solve problems. I will say something like, "You must keep the ratio of the gasses constant." and the person will instantly know what I mean by the mathematical term "ratio". It is much less effort to communicate complicated ideas if you both understand math. My math skills allow me to design things, and know how well they will work, before I actually build anything. In that way, I don't have to build a bunch of stuff that doesn't work to figure out how to build something that does work. check out my drag bike at: http://www.killacycle.com The reason I hold a world record on the drag strip is that I was able use math to design the fastest drag bike. I was able to calculate what would work best, and try many different ideas, without having to take the time to actually construct and test all the designs to sort out the best. Other folks that race against me do not have the math background, so they must take the time (and spend the money) test new ideas to see if they work. I can know in minutes (using math) what would take them years to figure out using trial and error. I do the same sort of thing at work. That is why I have a fun job that pays well.