Mathematics is both a science and an art. Like any great art, mathematics has an intrinsic beauty and coherence that has attracted practitioners for centuries. Yet, unlike other arts, mathematics is a surprisingly effective tool for describing the natural world. Indeed, mathematics has come to serve as the foundation of modern science, through its language and results. Some mathematical results were initially developed in order to solve internally generated mathematical problems and only later found application in other disciplines; other mathematical results were inspired by the needs of these other disciplines. The two facets of mathematics - tool of science and subject of inquiry for its own sake - have come to be interwoven into a complex fabric.
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