Every Profession Demands Advanced Math Skills

No profession or academic discipline can develop and thrive without mathematics. Not even sophisticated study of literature and philosophy can advance without advanced math skills. Creating a Shakespearean sonnet, a poet embeds mathematical formulae in language, developing cadence, rhythm and meaning. Logical reasoning, the backbone of philosophy, derives from principles of geometric proof. Similarly, the world’s largest retail chain runs almost entirely on a complex system of “metrics,” which inform its merchandising, advertising, displays, and personnel decisions. Not one single detail of the number-one retailer’s day-to-day operation remains untouched by sophisticated mathematical formulae, and workers cannot advance up its corporate ladder without command of advanced math skills, including the fundamentals of calculus for business. The further a person climbs up the corporate ziggurat, the more he or she must have complete command of advanced math skills. Every CEO knows words trigger strong emotions, but numbers inspire action.