Is God a mathematician?, Mario Livio
Type
Classification
1
Creator
1
Subject
5
Content
2
Author
1
Label
Is God a mathematician?, Mario Livio
Language
eng
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (pages [273]-291) and index
Illustrations
illustrationsportraits
Index
index present
Literary form
non fiction
Main title
Is God a mathematician?
Nature of contents
bibliography
Responsibility statement
Mario Livio
Summary
Nobel Laureate Eugene Wigner once wondered about "the unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics" in the formulation of the laws of nature. Is God a Mathematician? investigates why mathematics is as powerful as it is. From ancient times to the present, scientists and philosophers have marveled at how such a seemingly abstract discipline could so perfectly explain the natural world. More than that-mathematics has often made predictions, for example, about subatomic particles or cosmic phenomena that were unknown at the time, but later were proven to be true. Is mathematics ultimately invented or discovered? If, as Einstein insisted, mathematics is "a product of human thought that is independent of experience," how can it so accurately describe and even predict the world around us? Physicist and author Mario Livio brilliantly explores mathematical ideas from Pythagoras to the present day as he shows us how intriguing questions and ingenious answers have led to ever deeper insights into our world. This fascinating book will interest anyone curious about the human mind, the scientific world, and the relationship between them
Table of contents
A mystery -- Mystics : the numerologist and the philosopher -- Magicians : the master and the heretic -- Magicians : the skeptic and the giant -- Statisticians and probabilists : the science of uncertainty -- Geometers : future shock -- Logicians : thinking about reasoning -- Unreasonable effectiveness? -- On the human mind, mathematics, and the universe
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