Ronald Reagan

“ Despite the increasing importance of mathematics to the progress of our economy and society, enrollment in mathematics programs has been declining at all levels of the American educational system. Yet the application of mathematics is indispensable in such diverse fields as medicine, computer sciences, space exploration, the skilled trades, business, defense, and government. To help encourage the study and utilization of mathematics, it is appropriate that all Americans be reminded of the importance of this basic branch of science to our daily lives. ”

“ Since the time of its beginnings in Egypt and Mesopotamia some 5,000 years ago, progress in mathematical understanding has been a key ingredient of progress in science, commerce, and the arts. We have made astounding strides since from the theorems of Pythagoras to the set theory of Georg Cantor. In the era of the computer, more than ever before, mathematical knowledge and reasoning are essential to our increasingly technological world. ”