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A (second) major in mathematics is worth the effort for the simple reason that it is key to many science and engineering subjects. Math is the science of struct
by dozcom 7y ago
A (second) major in mathematics is worth the effort for the simple reason that it is key to many science and engineering subjects. Math is the science of structures, patterns and abstractions. I would describe it as "abstract physics" or "abstract engineering" as it exhibits all the major abstractions utilized in engineering and the sciences. Plus, it basically never gets obsolete. Many theorems work once proven even after 1000s of years, and you can't state the same thing in regards to computer science. The things you learned in your operating systems class for example can get obsolete quick whereas a good solid math course such as in abstract algebra or linear algebra will give you something of a lifetime (and even beyond that).
Let's take one particular example with linear algebra. With linear algebra you can understand Fourier transforms better (and why they work - roughly: your target function gets projected to a set of sine/cosine functions), with linear algebra you can grasp the backbone of neural network's aka the back-propagation algorithm, with linear algebra you can understand various transformations needed in computer graphics, with linear algebra you can better understand quantum computing/programming, ...
Linear algebra is just one fundamental subject that every math freshman needs to grasp as many consecutive courses require a good grasp of linear algebra.
Tl;tr: you cannot go wrong with studying mathematics.
Yours truly,
A CS undergrad