Exploring The Unreasonable Effectiveness Of Mathematics In Understanding Nature And Physics

The book of nature is written in the language of mathematics.” This is the essence of the profound observation made by Galileo Galilei as far back as 1623. Evidence in support of this insight has accumulated ever since. Much has been written about what has been termed “the unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics” in the description of physical phenomena. Is mathematics inherent in nature itself, or is it a construct of the human mind? This deep question has also been debated intensely among mathematicians, physicists and philosophers of science. Whatever be the answer, it is undeniably true that mathematical structures seem to be embedded deeply in the physical universe. After approximately four hundred years of continuous development, physics is undoubtedly the most ‘mathematized’ of the sciences. Physics attempts to describe nature in precise and logical terms, and it requires a language that has logic built into it. As Richard Feynman put it, “Mathematics is language plus logic”. A certain degree of facility in mathematics is therefore not only helpful, but also absolutely necessary, in order to really understand physics and to appreciate its concepts and laws even at an elementary level.