Talking about professions, not saying this has most impact of all. That's hard to say because things are so interconnected, so there are probably several essential professions for modern life. But I think often forgotten: mathematicians. If we
And - those may seem simple and obvious concepts to us now, but that's just because we learn them as children. If you hadn't been taught these concepts when young - you could live your entire life, and never think of them. Millions of people did, for thousands of years. Why would I be any different? If transplanted into a similar civilization, we'd be the same, as an ancient Sumerian or Egyptian, or Indian or Greek or Chinese child growing up in those ancient civilizations - you never would you think of any of these concepts.
They built elaborate civilizations, composed great works of literature, made awe inspiring art, developed rich and intricate philosophies, and nobody ever thought of those ideas.
So we wouldn't be able to do any of those things if we didn't have mathematicians. The subject is so engrained into our lives, it is almost impossible to imagine what a modern civilization would be like if it didn't have maths in any form.
You can get by fine without much maths, at least without the level of maths that needs mathematicians. Hunter gatherers only need to count, and ancient civilizations got by with extensive technology (metal working, elaborate buildings, boats etc) with what we would consider to be very limited mathematics - basically arithmetic, a small amount of geometry and a few very special results such as early versions of Pythagoras's theorem often limited to special cases - and without ratios in the modern sense, or negative numbers or positional notation.
So not saying that a civilization without maths or with limited maths would be impossible, or even that it would be worse, that's hard to say. Perhaps even some extra terrestrial intelligences we encounter might have advanced civilizations without any mathematics in a form that we recognize, or almost no maths. Perhaps you'd have limited technology but a civilization that is better in other ways. Or, quite possibly something else would take its place, so you could even build radio telescopes, spaceships etc without maths, not as we understand it at least. I speculate about that here: Is it possible that an alien civilization has completely different mathematics than ours? Is mathematics absolute?
But such a civilization would be very different. So I think you can say, fairly, that the profession of mathematicians has had a huge impact on world history.
- couldn't work with ratios (no idea what e.g. 3/5 means)
- or didn't know how to handle negative numbers (can't write -6)
- or use the positional system with zero for notating large numbers (e.g. can't write down 1000),
And - those may seem simple and obvious concepts to us now, but that's just because we learn them as children. If you hadn't been taught these concepts when young - you could live your entire life, and never think of them. Millions of people did, for thousands of years. Why would I be any different? If transplanted into a similar civilization, we'd be the same, as an ancient Sumerian or Egyptian, or Indian or Greek or Chinese child growing up in those ancient civilizations - you never would you think of any of these concepts.
They built elaborate civilizations, composed great works of literature, made awe inspiring art, developed rich and intricate philosophies, and nobody ever thought of those ideas.
So we wouldn't be able to do any of those things if we didn't have mathematicians. The subject is so engrained into our lives, it is almost impossible to imagine what a modern civilization would be like if it didn't have maths in any form.
You can get by fine without much maths, at least without the level of maths that needs mathematicians. Hunter gatherers only need to count, and ancient civilizations got by with extensive technology (metal working, elaborate buildings, boats etc) with what we would consider to be very limited mathematics - basically arithmetic, a small amount of geometry and a few very special results such as early versions of Pythagoras's theorem often limited to special cases - and without ratios in the modern sense, or negative numbers or positional notation.
So not saying that a civilization without maths or with limited maths would be impossible, or even that it would be worse, that's hard to say. Perhaps even some extra terrestrial intelligences we encounter might have advanced civilizations without any mathematics in a form that we recognize, or almost no maths. Perhaps you'd have limited technology but a civilization that is better in other ways. Or, quite possibly something else would take its place, so you could even build radio telescopes, spaceships etc without maths, not as we understand it at least. I speculate about that here: Is it possible that an alien civilization has completely different mathematics than ours? Is mathematics absolute?
But such a civilization would be very different. So I think you can say, fairly, that the profession of mathematicians has had a huge impact on world history.
About the Author
Robert Walker
Writer of articles on Mars and Space issues - Software Developer of Tune Smithy, Bounce Metronome etc.Studied at Wolfson College, Oxford
Lives in Isle of Mull
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