In order to answer the question "is math a science?" we must first ask ourselves what determines a subject, action or conclusion to be science? There could be many different answers to this question, but what I think most people can agree on is that science needs proof to make conclusions and to get proof scientists use experiments.
Now, when majority of people think about math they think that there is no evidence or reasoning. Most people just think that there are just facts in math because someone a long time ago thought it would be a good idea. This is thought is completely wrong. Math is a science. Mathematicians have used many different experiments and collected a lot of data in order to make conclusions that we now-a-days take for granted and understand to just be common facts. For example, pi. Many people do not know why pi is 3.14159265359... but they know that when they plug it into a calculator using a formula they get the answer they need, such as the volume of a sphere. The crazy thing is that a mathematician, Archimedes, started with similar rectangles and found the ratios of the perimeter to the longest side to always be the same. He then thought about an octagon, decagon, and shapes with so many sides that it gets closer and closer to the shape of a circle. As he kept finding the ratio of perimeter to the longest side, he noticed the ratio was approaching 3.14159... what we know today as pi. When we think about the "perimeter" of a circle we think circumference, and the longest side is the diameter.
There are many other mathematicians who have done many and many of different experiments to determine theorems in mathematics. Another reason I find mathematics to be a science is because in the end there is one answer, like in science there is one answer. For example, when a science teacher asks the names of the planets there are exactly 9 planets he/she would expect the student to say, in no certain order "Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto." In mathematics, when we ask what is the square root of 36 we expect to hear positive or negative 6. Yes, there are many different types of questions in both subjects that may allow for room to reach a conclusion in different ways, but in the end, the conclusion should be the same.
In the end, although math and science are different in some way, I believe the main concepts of both are aligned well making math a science. There have been many historical mathematicians and scientists who have spent their whole lives devoted to finding evidence, proof, and data to reach conclusions and it is those conclusions that allow us to use science, including math, in our everyday lives.
Now, when majority of people think about math they think that there is no evidence or reasoning. Most people just think that there are just facts in math because someone a long time ago thought it would be a good idea. This is thought is completely wrong. Math is a science. Mathematicians have used many different experiments and collected a lot of data in order to make conclusions that we now-a-days take for granted and understand to just be common facts. For example, pi. Many people do not know why pi is 3.14159265359... but they know that when they plug it into a calculator using a formula they get the answer they need, such as the volume of a sphere. The crazy thing is that a mathematician, Archimedes, started with similar rectangles and found the ratios of the perimeter to the longest side to always be the same. He then thought about an octagon, decagon, and shapes with so many sides that it gets closer and closer to the shape of a circle. As he kept finding the ratio of perimeter to the longest side, he noticed the ratio was approaching 3.14159... what we know today as pi. When we think about the "perimeter" of a circle we think circumference, and the longest side is the diameter.
There are many other mathematicians who have done many and many of different experiments to determine theorems in mathematics. Another reason I find mathematics to be a science is because in the end there is one answer, like in science there is one answer. For example, when a science teacher asks the names of the planets there are exactly 9 planets he/she would expect the student to say, in no certain order "Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto." In mathematics, when we ask what is the square root of 36 we expect to hear positive or negative 6. Yes, there are many different types of questions in both subjects that may allow for room to reach a conclusion in different ways, but in the end, the conclusion should be the same.
In the end, although math and science are different in some way, I believe the main concepts of both are aligned well making math a science. There have been many historical mathematicians and scientists who have spent their whole lives devoted to finding evidence, proof, and data to reach conclusions and it is those conclusions that allow us to use science, including math, in our everyday lives.