Any other name

I was reading this post from another math teacher's blog which I follow from time to time (honestly, I follow Instructify more often, I just find it's more helpful).  It was interesting, because this teacher says that the problem with math education was that we teachers were getting caught up with content and not focusing on skills.

Interesting.

This teacher also says that "math is the science of patterns."  That hardly seems like a fair definition of math to me.  Sure, mathematicians study patterns but math is the way to describe patterns in a symbolic manner.  We see the patterns with our eyes, but it is with a formula that we describe it "mathematically."  There are so many areas that use patterns.  Don't historians study art?  Art uses patterns (look, of course, at our dear friend Escher's work).  There are patterns in poetry, music, architecture.

So no.  Patterns are not solely the realm of mathematics.  But mathematics is a way to describe a pattern.

Something to consider.