3 ms·
I found the book "Our Mathematical Universe" by Max Tegmark, a physicist, a pretty good read. His idea is basically that the universe isn't explained by math, i
by certmd 7y ago
I found the book "Our Mathematical Universe" by Max Tegmark, a physicist, a pretty good read. His idea is basically that the universe isn't explained by math, it IS math. To get to what he means by that he provides a good review of theoretical physics/cosmology/quantum mechanics. No idea how other physicists think of his work but for someone not in the field who has some interest I thought it was a good overview and even if his ideas are wrong gives you something to think about.
- dr_dshiv 7y agoKeeping in mind that Tegmark's idea is 2,500 years old and the basis of Western civilization. Pythagoras was the biggest philosophical influence on Plato. And, according to Aristotle (150 years later), Pythagoras believed that "all is number". Thales (the "first" Greek philosopher) believed that the underlying principle of the world was water, a kind of flowing force. Anaximenes, his student, believed the underlying principle was air, a sort of bouncing around set of particles. Pythagoras believed that underneath everything, the most basic underlying principle was math. And not just that: he believed that the natural harmonies in mathematics led to the natural harmonies in the kosmos (a term he is credited with introducing, along with the term "philosopher").
- dorchadas 7y agoThis reminds me of the project being worked on by Cohl Furey at Cambridge to basically explain physics out of the four normed divison algebras. I'm really interested to see where that leads, and kinda want to head into that field myself.