Mathematical models are very much in the news now, as they are used to make decisions about our response to such vital areas as COVID-19 and climate change. Frequently, they are blamed for a series of dubious decisions, creating much concern amongst the general public. However, without mathematical models, we would have none of the modern technology that we take for granted, nor would we have modern health care, be able to forecast the climate, cook a potato, have electricity to power our home, or go into space.

By explaining technical mathematical concepts in a way that everyone can understand and appreciate, Climate, Chaos and COVID: How Mathematical Models Describe the Universe sets the record straight and lifts the lid off the mystery of mathematical models. It shows why they work, how good they can be, the advantages and disadvantages of using them and how they make the modern world possible. The readers will be able to see the impact that the use of these models has on their lives, and will be able to appreciate both their power and their limitations.

The book includes a very large number of both short and long case studies, many of which are taken directly from the author's own experiences of working as a mathematical modeller in academia, in industry, and between the two. These include COVID-19 and climate and how maths saves the whales, powers our home, gives us the material we need to live, and takes us into space.

Contents:

• Preface


• About the Author


• How Mathematics Models Real Life


• Why Did the Mathematician Cross the Road?


• Mathematics Saves the whales!


• How Mathematics Helped in the Fight Against COVID-19


• Can Mathematics Predict the Future?


• The Mathematics of Climate Change


• Energetic Mathematics


• Mathematical Food for Thought


• Material Mathematics


• Mathematics Goes into Space


• References


• Index

Readership: Keen high school students, teachers, STEM undergraduates and postgraduates interested in the field of applied mathematics and mathematical modelling; policymakers and decision makers in relevant industries such as Education, Environment, Health and Social Care, and Energy; members of the general public who want to understand more of the mathematics behind the models used in everyday life.

Key Features:

• The current high profile use of mathematical models to make decisions on COVID-19 and climate and beyond has created both a concern in the public, and also a desire to learn much more about how and why they work. This book aims to do exactly this. It also aims to provide motivation for why we learn mathematics at school, showing the huge power that mathematics has when it is used in the real world


• The topics covered, which include COVID-19, Climate change and saving the whales could not be more topical


• The level of mathematics varies between none, and that learned by the end of high school. The reader can therefore choose to either get involved in the mathematics and learn exactly how it is applied, or they can follow the story of how it is used in the different case studies