• Question: Do you need to have good grades and qualification in maths to excel in a science career or does it depends on what field of career you take on that has something to do with science?

    Asked by to Iain on 18 Mar 2014. This question was also asked by .
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      Iain Moal answered on 18 Mar 2014:


      Actually, its a bit of both. It does depends on what area of science you want to go in to. If you want to do theoretical physics, then you really do have to be a talented mathematician, as this is central to the subject. For other areas of science, such as botony, you might be able to get away with very little mathematical ability. However, these are two extremes. For most areas of science, even those that might not seem particularly mathematical such as biology or psychology, you need at the very least the ability to apply and understand statistics. This is important because it is statistics that allows you to find out whether something you are observing is a real phenomenon or just something due to random chance. For other areas, such as chemistry, then it helps to know some more advanced topics, such as calculus.

      Ultimately, however, in most areas, you don’t need to be exceptionally mathematically gifted in order to do good science. Darwin, for instance, was notoriously dismissive of mathetmatics.

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