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We have to study mathematics before we can understand physics, and we start mathematics by learning Euclid and Pythagoras. The difference between maths and phil
by bakuninsbart 5y ago
We have to study mathematics before we can understand physics, and we start mathematics by learning Euclid and Pythagoras. The difference between maths and philosophy, and physics, is that the old Greeks were actually really good at the former two.
- BeFlatXIII 5y agoAt the same time, we do not start the study of chemistry with alchemy and phlogiston.
- Koshkin 5y agoSure, some philosophers of science would say that geometry is part of physics, and in that sense the Greeks laid a good foundation indeed; most, though, would view mathematics merely as something of a prerequisite (akin to general literacy), and Faraday, while regretful of not knowing mathematics, did pretty good without it. (This latter fact should not be underestimated: physics is by its nature an experimental science, but the very idea of this, and that experiment is the sole criterion of truth, has occurred to people only relatively recently.)