Book contents
- Why Does Math Work … If It’s Not Real?
- Why Does Math Work … If It’s Not Real?
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Part I Rare Axioms
- 1 Introducing the Mystery
- 2 On Classical Mathematics
- 3 On Modern Physics
- Intermezzo
- Part II The Oracle
- Epilogue: The Eternal Blueprint
- Post Scriptum: On Mathematical Grand Design
- Appendix
- Recommended Reading
- Index
3 - On Modern Physics
from Part I - Rare Axioms
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 April 2023
- Why Does Math Work … If It’s Not Real?
- Why Does Math Work … If It’s Not Real?
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Part I Rare Axioms
- 1 Introducing the Mystery
- 2 On Classical Mathematics
- 3 On Modern Physics
- Intermezzo
- Part II The Oracle
- Epilogue: The Eternal Blueprint
- Post Scriptum: On Mathematical Grand Design
- Appendix
- Recommended Reading
- Index
Summary
By now that we have deepened the mystery and all attempts to understand it had failed. We still do not know why mathematics would impose itself into modern physics. In this chapter we turn the tables: We start with science (physics) and then carefully examine how mathematics appeared in there. How did mathematics intrude into the world of physics, what was the mechanism? This chapter consists of three independent essays: on Plank and quantum, Einstein and light, and Heisenberg and uncertainty. As before, these essays stand alone and can be read independently. At the end we offer a conclusion, in which we realize that we are even more entangled and confused. Math appears everywhere, of that we are certain, but why? We have no clue!
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- Information
- Why Does Math Work … If It's Not Real?Episodes in Unreasonable Effectiveness, pp. 34 - 45Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023