The Mathematical Representation of Physical Reality
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Beschreibung
This book deals with the rise of mathematics in physical sciences, beginning with Galileo and Newton and extending to the present day. The book is divided into two parts. The first part gives a brief history of how mathematics was introduced into physics—despite its "unreasonable effectiveness" as famously pointed out by a distinguished physicist—and the criticisms it received from earlier thinkers. The second part takes a more philosophical approach and is intended to shed some light on that mysterious effectiveness. For this purpose, the author reviews the debate between classical philosophers on the existence of innate ideas that allow us to understand the world and also the philosophically based arguments for and against the use of mathematics in physical sciences. In this context, Schopenhauer’s conceptions of causality and matter are very pertinent, and their validity is revisited in light of modern physics. The final question addressed is whether the effectiveness of mathematicscan be explained by its “existence” in an independent platonic realm, as Gödel believed.
The book aims at readers interested in the history and philosophy of physics. It is accessible to those with only a very basic (not professional) knowledge of physics.
This book deals with the rise of mathematics in physical sciences, beginning with Galileo and Newton and extending to the present day. The book is divided into two parts. The first part gives a brief history of how mathematics was introduced into physics—despite its "unreasonable effectiveness" as famously pointed out by a distinguished physicist—and the criticisms it received from earlier thinkers. The second part takes a more philosophical approach and is intended to shed some light on that mysterious effectiveness. For this purpose, the author reviews the debate between classical philosophers on the existence of innate ideas that allow us to understand the world and also the philosophically based arguments for and against the use of mathematics in physical sciences. In this context, Schopenhauer’s conceptions of causality and matter are very pertinent, and their validity is revisited in light of modern physics. The final question addressed is whether the effectiveness of mathematics can be explained by its “existence” in an independent platonic realm, as Gödel believed.
The book aims at readers interested in the history and philosophy of physics. It is accessible to those with only a very basic (not professional) knowledge of physics.
Recounts the unreasonable and unexpected irruption of mathematics in the physical sciences Explores mysterious and apparently unlimited effectiveness of mathematics in physics Revisits the debate on innate ideas in the context of theoretical physics
Autor*in
Shahen Hacyan
Themen in »The Mathematical Representation of Physical Reality«
mathematics in physics history of physics physics as mathematical representation relativity theory quantum mechanics classical philosophy classical mechanics