Strengthening the linkages between the sciences and the mathematical sciences

To encourage new linkages between the mathematical sciences and other fields and to sustain old linkages, the National Research Council (NRC) constituted a committee representing a broad cross-section of scientists from academia, federal government laboratories, and industry. Its task was to "examine the mechanisms for strengthening interdisciplinary research between the sciences and mathematical sciences, with the principal efforts being to suggest what are likely to be the most effective mechanisms for collaboration..." In this report the Committee on Strengthening the Linkages Between the Sciences and the Mathematical Sciences highlights a few examples (among many) of the effective interaction between mathematics and other fields: the beginning of modern weather prediction, the development of biostatistics, mathematical economics, and biomedical imaging. Behind these dramatic developments lies a vast array of research activities at the interface of mathematics and other disciplines.