Originally published at http://www.yearofscience2009.org/ (November 2009) in a month long series of articles about chemistry during the 2009 Year of Science celebration. An original essay by Barbara Belmont. All rights reserved.
Part One: Relating Math to Science
Quite a few years ago, it was my pleasure to participate on a career panel at the Girl Scouts' Family Science Day. It's always fun to tell the story of my unconventional career path, just to see the look of horror on people's faces when I tell them my success is a direct result of rebellion against my parents' uneducated ways. Where most parents encouraged their kids to get all the education they could, college was not at all in our family vocabulary. Girls grew up to be mothers, and perhaps secretaries. Boys grew up to be laborers and tradesmen. When it came time to pick my "electives" in high school, I chose the college prep track, because it was the only way to take algebra, which I had fallen in love with in 8th grade. "Wait a minute", my parents exclaimed forcefully. "You're not going to college! Why are you in college prep? You should be taking typing and business courses." "But I AM signed up for typing," I whimpered. "And college prep is the only way to take ALGEBRA!", I argued tearfully. And so it began: my rebellious teenage years, excelling academically, pursuing my own interests while selfishly rejecting my parents' aspirations for me, and learning early on how to make decisions that would affect me decades to come.
One algebra class led to another, as well as geometry, trigonometry, calculus, biology, physics, and chemistry. By time I got to college, I was a math and biology major, with the intention of being a high school science teacher. At my college, all biology majors took required courses in general chemistry and organic chemistry. By time I got to my second year of chemistry, most of my math and biology major requirements were fulfilled. But I was not feeling fulfilled. Biology wasn't exciting enough for me, for those were the days of taxonomy, zoology, and traditional genetics. Math was too, er, un-applied. But chemistry, oh CHEMISTRY, now THAT was stimulating. I changed my major, and crammed the rest of my requirements into four semesters. By then, I was thinking I might like to be a college chemistry teacher. That was not to be - at least for another 30 years - but it's been an interesting and stimulating career path nonetheless, which I may discuss in a future writing.
All this back story sets the stage for the Q and A session after the Girl Scout career panel. Two very interesting questions were posed - by the same girl, in fact - that I wound up answering. The first question was "What's the difference between Biology and Chemistry?". The second question was "Why do people use the phrase "Math and Science" together when talking about education and career preparation? How are Math and Science related?"
Turns out I feel qualified to answer these questions, at least to middle-school girls who are considering their future education and career paths.
What's the Difference Between Biology and Chemistry?
Biology involves living systems: animals, plants, fungi, cells, microbes. From metabolism and life cycle to interaction with environment, Biology studies, classifies, describes, and manipulates living systems. Chemistry involves matter and energy: atoms, molecules and chemical interactions. From analysis and engineering to synthesis and production, Chemistry studies, classifies, measures, and manipulates matter and energy.
People who earn their living as chemists analyze or measure things, mix things, make or synthesize things, refine or purify things, and even burn or destroy things, all in order to get information about a chemical system or to manufacture something to sell.
By its very definition, Chemistry is intertwined with Biology, as living systems are based on chemical processes: neurochemistry, immunochemistry, physiological chemistry, hormone chemistry, food chemistry. Complicated complex chemistry that plays roles in behavior, disease resistance, metabolism, reproduction, and more, in all kingdoms of life.
So what's the difference? From the top down: A lot. From the inside out: Not much, really.
"How are Math and Science Related?"
They are oh-so-related! Science is the study of how the universe works, and exploitation of that knowledge to leverage further study or benefit. Math is a language that is used as a tool to reveal and relate what is discovered by Science. In my beloved field of Chemistry, Math is used to find relationships between hypothesis and data, relationships between chemical reactants and reactions, relationships between electrons and energy, relationships between ingredients and composition, and relationships between production and sales costs, to name a few.
For the most part, it's just like Algebra to me. And now we've come full circle in this essay: my early enjoyment of mathematics provided a foundation for my enjoyment of and success in my chosen career as a Chemist. By the way, my parents have forgotten about those teen-time arguments, and are proud of me now.