The mystery of our mathematical universe

Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2019 Dec;1458(1):9-25. doi: 10.1111/nyas.14026. Epub 2019 Mar 22.

Abstract

Why is it that fundamental laws discovered through pure mathematics have been able to describe the behavior of our physical world with such precision? Given that the physical universe is composed of mathematical properties, some have posited that mathematics is the language of the universe, whose laws reveal what appears to be a hidden order in the natural world. Physicist S. James Gates, Jr. and science writer Margaret Wertheim explore the uncanny ability of mathematics to reveal the laws of nature.

Keywords: Newton; consciousness; hyperbolic geometry; mathematics; physics; quantum mechanics; string theory; supersymmetry; symmetry.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Career Choice
  • Consciousness
  • Fractals
  • Humans
  • Language
  • Mathematics / trends*
  • Models, Theoretical
  • Physical Phenomena
  • Physics / trends*
  • Quantum Theory