Northeast Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation

Middle School Students

If you think you may be interested in science, technology engineering and/or mathematics, start investigating now. It is never too early to start preparations. You probably have science fairs in your school or community. Get involved and put together an incredible project. Talk to some family and friends who are scientists, engineers and mathematicians. Ask your teacher if there are any extra credit projects you can do that may increase your interest. There are a lot of things you can do to explore what to do with STEM majors.

What Does a Mathematician Do?

by Dr. E. H. Goins *

We've all come across various mathematical problems - from computing the sale price at a department store, to figuring out how long it would take to reach a destination when traveling at a constant speed on the freeway. But is it possible to have a career just solving math problems all day? What is it exactly that mathematicians do? Below you'll find some examples of areas in which mathematicians work.

Mathematical Finance

Perhaps you've heard of the stock market, and the way it's unpredictable behavior makes investors cringe. In 1973, professors Fischer Black and Myron Scholes realized they could model the stock market using a relatively simple mathematical equation. Today, this equation is known as the Black-Scholes model. In short, given the behavior of a market over a certain period of time - such as a day, a month, or a year - the equations can predict with remarkable accuracy how much your stock should be worth after a certain number of days, months, or years. Their ideas were so profound that they received the Nobel Prize in 1997 - for a mathematical equation, of all things! (Prof. Black passed away in 1995 before he would receive the prize.)

Learn more about Myron Scholes »

Mathematical Biology

Imagine if one day we could find the cure for cancer--using nothing but mathematics! You see, for years biologists have studied the way cancerous cells grow; they always move towards blood vessels. This behavior has also been studied by mathematicians -- but from a different point of view. There is a certain equation, known as the predator-prey model, which describes the growth of any type of population. Nowadays, biologists and mathematicians are teaming together to apply these models to the growth of cancer, with the hope that the equations can show how to wipe out the population of cancerous cells! A particular mathematician who is working on these questions is Professor Trachette Jackson at the University of Michigan.

Learn more about Trachette Jackson »

Mathematical Physics

Perhaps you're heard about black holes - an object with such a strong gravitational pull that not even light can escape. You probably know that if you look directly at a black hole, you can't see anything. But what if you look near a black hole? This is a question Albert Einstein first posed in the 1950's. Space around the black hole is distorted, much like what you'd see when looking at your reflection in a pool of water with a lot of ripples. In fact, you'd see multiple images of yourself, with parts looking larger and parts looking smaller. Well, this is exactly what happens when you're looking near black holes - this phenomenon is called gravitational lensing. Unfortunately, black holes are pretty rare so physicists and astronomers can't observe this phenomena too well, but mathematicians can work out various equations to predict what to look for. A particular mathematician who is working on these questions is Professor Arlie Petters at Duke University.

Learn more about Arlie Petters

Related Resources

* Dr. Edray Herber Goins is an instructor of mathematics at the California Institute of Technology located in Southern California. His own research involves studying properties of equations - without ever solving the equations themselves! Learn more about Edray Herber Goins »