- For many young people who aspire to be scientists, the great bugbear is mathematics. Without advanced math, how can you do serious work in the sciences? Well, I have a professional secret to share: Many of the most successful scientists in the world today are mathematically no more than semiliterate.
- During my decades of teaching biology at Harvard, I watched sadly as bright undergraduates turned away from the possibility of a scientific career, fearing that, without strong math skills, they would fail. This mistaken assumption has deprived science of an immeasurable amount of sorely needed talent
- Fortunately, exceptional mathematical fluency is required in only a few disciplines, such as particle physics, astrophysics and information theory.
- Far more important throughout the rest of science is the ability to form concepts, during which the researcher conjures images and processes by intuition.
"Great Scientists Don't Need Math"
An intriguing essay by E. O. Wilson in the Wall Street Journal:
