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.