What is Math?

When I try to summon my own definition of Mathematics, I tend to think of it in terms of the subjects it encompasses: addition, subtraction, geometry, algebra etc.  I knew it was much more than that so I  asked a friend what he thought the definition of what math might be to get a second opinion. After a long pause he said “Well, I guess it might be how numbers relate to one another”.  It is pretty clear to me that our definitions of math have been constrained by what we understood math to be in school, when in fact the scope of mathematics reaches far beyond that. 

So, to find out an all-encompassing definition of what Mathematics is, I turned to the internet.  I found a simple definition on Wikipedia:

Mathematics is the abstract study of topics such as quantity (numbers), structure, space, and change. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematics)

Within this definition we find some words that we may not immediately connect to mathematics.  For me, these words are all of the ones that come after quantity.  When considering the definition it does make sense to include structure, space, and change as part of the study of mathematics, it is not something that many students are familiar with in the K-6 classroom.  

The internet was not so kind in my search of what defines "mathematical thinking".  There are courses one can take online to learn it, and books for sale on Amazon for purchase, but ne'er definition. So I'm gonna just go for a guess: Mathematical thinking is a set of skills that one is able to transfer to many disciplines.  Hopefully I'll be able to elaborate on this after Thursday's class!

P.S. If someone else finds a good definition, let me know.  Believe it or not I am not very good at googling.