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1.5: An Overview of Essential Mathematics Used in Science

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    Mathematics is the abstract science of numbers, quantity and space. Mathematics may be studied in its own right (pure mathematics), or as it is applied to scientific disciplines such as (applied mathematics).

     

    Statistics is a mathematical body of science that pertains to the collection, analysis, interpretation or explanation, and presentation of data, or as a branch of mathematics.

     

    Quantitative ecology is the application of advanced mathematical and statistical tools to any number of problems in the field of ecology. It is a small but growing subfield in ecology, reflecting the demand among practicing ecologists to interpret ever larger and more complex data sets using quantitative reasoning. Quantitative ecologists might apply some combination of deterministic or stochastic mathematical models to theoretical questions or they might use sophisticated methods in applied statistics for experimental design and hypothesis testing. Typical problems in quantitative ecology include estimating the dynamics and status of wild populations, modeling the impacts of anthropogenic or climatic change on ecological communities, and predicting the spread of invasive species or disease outbreaks.

     

    Quantitative ecology, which mainly focuses on statistical and computational methods for addressing applied problems, is distinct from theoretical ecology which tends to explore focus on understanding the dynamics of simple mechanistic models and their implications for a general set of biological systems using mathematical arguments.

     

    How does mathematics and statistics integrate into the scientific method?

    Mathematics and statistics are vital for scientific inquiry. It is an especially imperative tool for disciplines that are inherently variable and require extensive collection of data. Ideally scientists would like to collect data from every individual in the population of interest, but this is rarely possible. As a result, scientists often must use data collected from a representative sample of individuals to draw inferences about basic biological phenomena for a population. This is where mathematics and statistics steps into the party.

     

    What are the most important functions of statistics?

    Some of the most important functions of statistics include:

    • Description and summary of basic findings (Descriptive statistics).
    • Testing hypotheses regarding relationships between variables so the cause and effect can begin to be understood (Inferential statistics).
    • Presenting findings in an easily understood manner – misunderstandings keep science from moving forward!

     

    Contributors and Attribution

    Modified by Melissa Ha and Rachel Schleiger (CC-BY-NC) and Quantitative ecology From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    1.5: An Overview of Essential Mathematics Used in Science is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.