Pure Mathematics vs. Applied Mathematics: Part II

Pure Mathematics is the art and foundation for mathematics as a whole.  Applied Mathematics is the ugly cousin to Pure Mathematics.  Pure Mathematics is more thought out and has no end to it, because it can always be improved. ​

Applied Mathematics is a hit or miss, meaning either it works or it does not work, and in order to be improved it depends on the works of Pure Mathematics.

​What we know today was developed by Pure Mathematicians. They did not have technology we have today to apply their work to practical use.  

For example, Number Theory was thought to be one of the most nonessential subjects within Algebra. Number Theory is the study of numbers and their properties.  It is considered to be a part of Pure Mathematics.

---

It was not until recently Number Theory became a part of the applied world, since we can apply the theories learned in Number Theory to breaking and making codes.  

In today’s society, the subject is used greatly by NSA and any intelligence agency. When one wants to buy items online, Number Theorists make it where it is safe to do so.  They do this by making a code for when one enters their card information.  

The information is then encrypted so it will not be readable if it was obtained by an individual wanting to steal from another individual. Without the beauty of Number Theory a lot of crime will be going on today.

Applied Mathematics, however, has essentially been around for a very long time. This type of math can be as straightforward as a person counting money, or as complicated as creating an algorithm from scratch to shut down the nation’s defense system.

For example, Quantum Theory is surely amongst the most difficult subjects within Applied Mathematics.  Quantum Theory is basically principles within energy and matter and how they behave in a very small, atomic, states.  

Quantum Theory is used in physics and is a key theory to understanding Quantum Mechanics.  Without Quantum Theory there would be no laptops, one would not be able to instant message anybody, and there would not be any lasers.  

​Applied and Pure Mathematics both play a huge role in our everyday life, as seen through our history.

Part I

Part III