I would say that both Computer Science and Statistics are applications of Mathematics because computers are based on and would not work without the binary number system and statistics is basically a study of the variation of scalars, which relies on the concepts of differentiation and integration in order to prove the underlying concepts of the subject. However, I would not say that Mathematics and Statistics are one and the same thing by any means and I will use the following example to support this argument. When asked if the Bachelor of Science course in Mathematics and Applied Statistics at the University of Reading was accredited by the Royal Statistical Society I was told that, "the core modules in the joint honours courses don't cover enough statistics". That is to say that the core Mathematics units which I have taken and are taking are considered to have little or no statistical content. Whether this is due to the fact that Mathematics is mainly studied in the abstract or whether it is due to the fact that the subjects are completely unrelated, I am not certain, but the fact remains that in the academic community there is still a considerable divide between the two disciplines.
In fact, until the point at which I commenced my Mathematics A-Level I was not aware that there was even a difference between "Pure" Mathematics and Statistics. Obviously, there is a difference between these subjects which I am now aware of but many universities in the United Kingdom do not even have separate departments for the two subjects and many units in the one discipline are compulsory for students studying single honours degrees in the other discipline, therefore implying that the difference between the subjects is by no means either fundamental or unconquerable.
In my opinion, Mathematics is a tool for the improvement of society through applications in all of the quantitative sciences resulting in vast technological advances but it can also be a force for evil.
