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As the title suggests, the main focus of the book is represented by the existence of various paradigms describing how we should approach mathematics, among which two stand out as poles apart: formalism (claiming th
I was pleasantly surprised by Mario Livio's "Is God a Mathematician?" specifically his eloquence in walking the readers through the most significant moments in the history of mathematics and acquainting them with prominent figures on an extensive timeline from antiquity to modern days.As the title suggests, the main focus of the book is represented by the existence of various paradigms describing how we should approach mathematics, among which two stand out as poles apart: formalism (claiming that math is invented by the human mind) and Platonism (regarding mathematics as an a priori universal language whose truths are merely discovered and otherwise independent from the human reasoning). [More on the schools of thought in mathematical philosophy - here]
Obviously this remains an open argument, but the author manages to raise pros and cons to all the theories in quite an objective manner. Regardless of the preferred approach, one cannot help but marvel at how such a seemingly abstract discipline can so superbly explain the natural world. Furthermore, if mathematics is invented, how come some of its concepts were found practical applications long after their invention?
Each chapter discusses important topics like geometry, logic, topology, statistics and probability theory, as well as major breakthroughs in adjacent fields – such as physics or astronomy (which I particularly enjoyed). The transitions are natural, the narrative style is easy to follow and the overall tone is objective. Unlike many popular science books that tend to get tedious or uninteresting after the first few chapters, it has a good structure and manages to keep the reader engaged and to arouse his/her curiosity on the subject. "Is God a Mathematician?" is an accessible book with technical concepts often explained in layman's terms so I wouldn't recommend it for its technical prowess, but rather for the food for thought it provides.
There is poetry in the queen of all sciences and this book succeeds in conveying it, aside from the inherent philosophical considerations surrounding the nature of mathematics.
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Livio reviews the history of math, from Pythagoras to modern mathematicians such as Lobachevsky, who discovered hyperbolic geometry, and Kurt Godel, who showed that attempts to "prove" the axioms of mathematics consistent are doomed to failure. Indeed, there are many rather interesting mini-biographies of important mathematicians through the ages.
Finally, Livio addresses the fundamental question of what is mathematical reality -- the Platonic view that math really is there (somewhere) and we just discover it, to more radical interpretations, such as the claims by some that it is only a 'social construct'. In the end, Livio offers no pat answers, only questions.
I personally am mostly a Platonist, although I acknowledge the human element in mathematics. I thoroughly reject the views of cultural relativists in this area. The mere fact that some mathematical results have been found independently by people in different lands speaks against such notions. In my own research work, on numerous occasions myself and colleagues have "discovered" by computer mathematical formulas that had lain hidden. You can't tell me that the computer found "social constructs"...
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After stating the "mystery" of the effectiveness of mathematics in science in chapter one, Livio discusses the Greeks views on mathematics, especially Pythagoras and Plato
Mario Livio examines the difficult to figure out effectiveness of mathematics in science. He also discusses the nature of mathematics, in particularly is mathematics invented or discovered? The reason for this discussion is that it becomes important to how you view the effectiveness issue, which is the major topic of the book.After stating the "mystery" of the effectiveness of mathematics in science in chapter one, Livio discusses the Greeks views on mathematics, especially Pythagoras and Plato, in chapter two. Chapters three and four review the work of Archimedes, Galileo, Descartes, and Newton describing how they use mathematics to describe the universe, after which in chapter five covers probability and statistics. Chapter six discusses the effect of non-Euclidean geometries on the issues. Chapter seven covers the logicians and formalists attempts to secure the foundations of mathematics. Chapter seven explores the main question of the book directly, and finally Livio wraps things up by including whether mathematics is invented or discovered. He concludes it is both. We invent things like prime numbers, then discover relationships among them.
The following are some comments I have on the notes I took while reading the book. Page numbers are in brackets [] from the SIMON & SCHUSTER hardcover edition of January 2009.
[10] In an initial discussion on the invented/discover dichotomy Livio states: "Martin Gardner, the famous author of numerous texts in recreational mathematics, also takes the side of mathematics as a discovery. To him, there is no question that numbers and mathematics have their own existence, whether humans know about them or not." (original italics) Gardner was also a theist, so a separate existence for mathematical objects and structures comes as no surprise. Of course, just because he is a theist does not make him wrong or right on the mathematical issue.
[198-201] He presents a story about Kurt Godel's, of incompleteness fame, adventures in gaining his United States citizenship related by Oskar Morgenstern, a collegue of both Godel and Einstein at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. Godel according to the story figured out a way that the United States could be turn into a dictatorship under the Constitution. Morgenstern and Einstein furiously tried to get Godel not to reveal this to the judge at the citizenship hearing. Godel even is reported saying to the judge: "Oh, yes, I can prove it." (italics are mine) However, having heard this story several times before, it is never related what Godel's proof of his claim was. There are some today that worry that Trump will attempt to become a dictator. I, however, doubt that this will ever happen.
[@227] I thought of how one could go about proving mathematical realism. I mean, where is this realm of mathematics? A mathematical heaven of sorts? It just seems unlikely that one could prove such a place exists, like trying to prove god's existence, which so far has been an absolute failure to my knowledge.
[228] He relates Max Tegmark's argument for the universe being mathematical, not physical. In a final theory of everything it "cannot include any concepts such as 'subatomic particles,' 'vibrating strings,' 'warped spacetime,' or other . . . [physical] constructs." This seems awful close to eliminative materialism's jettisoning of folk psychology terms (e.g. feel, think, believe, want, etc). Tegmark faces the same struggles as the Churchland's (proponents of eliminative materialism) to show that all that exist is the brain and its states. At least the Churchland's can show that there are not any proven validity to folk psychology as a theory of mind.
[242] Here Livio presents his view on the invention/discovery dichotomy. "'Is mathematics created or discovered?' is the wrong question to ask because it implies that the answer has to be one or the other and that the two possibilities are mutually exclusive. Instead, I suggest that mathematics is partly created and partly discovered. Humans commonly invent mathematical concepts and discover the relations among those concepts." I find this reasonable, but wonder does it really reveal anything profound on the issue. I have a friend who thinks the question itself is ill-posed for other reasons, but I will not try to related them here.
[243-4] Quoting Sir Michael Atiyah, "whose views on the nature of mathematics" Livio shares, on the effectiveness of mathematics in science: "If one views the brain in its evolutionary context then the mysterious success of mathematics in the physical sciences is at least partially explained. The brain evolved in order to deal with the physical world, so it should not be too surprising that it has developed a language, mathematics, that is well suited for the purpose." I agree that an evolutionary perspective needs to be part of the answer to this issue.
[252] After asking: "Have we then solved the mystery of the effectiveness of mathematics once in for all?" he quotes Bertrand Russell from his The Problems of Philosophy: "Thus, to sum up our discussion of the value of philosophy; philosophy is to be studied, not for the sake of any definite answers to its questions, since no definitive answers can, as a rule, be known to be true, but rather for the sake of the questions themselves; because these questions enlarge our conception of what is possible, enrich our intellectual imagination and diminish the dogmatic reassurance which closes the mind against speculation; but above all because, through the greatness of the universe which philosophy contemplates, the mind is also rendered great, and becomes capable of that union with the universe which constitutes it highest good." While I do not confer with Russell's mystical rewards of philosophy, I do agree with Him that the asking of questions enlarges our capacity for "intellectual imagination." In a sense it is the journey itself that is the most important thing philosophy.*
The book was better than I supposed before I started reading it. I was under the wrong impression that Livio held the views of Tegmark, based on a missed remember PBS science show - "The Math Mystery." I was pleased when it became obvious to me that this was not the way he saw the relationship between mathematics and science. The historical sections were good, but there was nothing too new from what I already new. Still he writes well, and he explains things in understandable ways, making it an enjoyable read.
If you are interested in the relationship between science and mathematics, this book should be of interest to you. If you are looking for a definitive answer to the "mystery" you will not find it here, but this does not distract from the honest coverage that Livio provides. He does not pontificate. I will add for the nonconversant with mathematical equation the book has a very limited amount of these.
* To see a fuller exposition of my views on philosophy see my "What Is Philosophy?" blog post @ https://aquestionersjourney.wordpress...
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The first half reads as a history of science--going over the ground of Archimides, Galileo, Copernicus and
Since the enlightenment, mathematics and the sciences have ascended heights where God alone used to dwell, growing in scope and complexity and marveling the world with miracles like fusion, antibiotics, and space travel. Livio's title, "Is God a Mathematician?" isn't so much an effort to unite math and theology as it is an effort to find out how omnipotent and omniscient math can truly be.The first half reads as a history of science--going over the ground of Archimides, Galileo, Copernicus and others (I'm not sure why all books of science cover this territory, but I especially liked Livio's analysis of Descartes).
The part I found most fascinating was the last 100 pages, where Livio goes into modern mathematical enigmas and outlines the developments of the last 150 years. I must admit, I never studied math beyond college pre-calculus, so this book was quite a challenge for me. It was an honor, then, to peer over the shoulder of a true mathematician and try to wrap my brain around this fascinating subject.
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Philosophy is to be studied, not for the sake of any definite answers
to its questions, since no definite answers can, as a rule, be known
to be true, but rather for the sake of the questions themselves;
because these questions enlarge our conception of what is possible,
enrich our intellectual imagination and diminish the dogmatic
assurance which closes the mind against speculation; but above all
because, through the greatness of the universe Thus, to sum up our discussion of the value of philosophy;
Philosophy is to be studied, not for the sake of any definite answers
to its questions, since no definite answers can, as a rule, be known
to be true, but rather for the sake of the questions themselves;
because these questions enlarge our conception of what is possible,
enrich our intellectual imagination and diminish the dogmatic
assurance which closes the mind against speculation; but above all
because, through the greatness of the universe which philosophy
contemplates, the mind is also rendered great and becomes capable
of that union with the universe which constitutes its highest good. ...more
Pi in The Sky is still the gold standard for books trying to explain why mathematics fits the real world with unreasonable effectiveness as the famous Wigner quote puts it. This book is still worth a read, but does not bring anything new, though it's entertaining and well written
Pi in The Sky is still the gold standard for books trying to explain why mathematics fits the real world with unreasonable effectiveness as the famous Wigner quote puts it. This book is still worth a read, but does not bring anything new, though it's entertaining and well written ...more
To accomplish this goal, he spends the vast majority of the book walking us back through the history of math and identifies what the greatest minds of mathematics thought about the issue. As a mathematician himself, his history is robust and insightful. He ties nearly every character he reviews to their contemporaries, explaining how their views matched up to the common thought of the day. He shows how many early mathematicians reveled in the idea that there was a geometric reality beyond our own where perfect shapes actually exist. He marvels at the places where math broke into physical reality, such as how accurate Newton's predictions of gravity continue to be (even centuries later) and what this means for the discussion. Later, he brings us to non-Euclidean geometry, which shook the mathematical world by showing that other theoretical realities existed where our accepted laws did not always apply.
If the above piques your interest, the book is well-written and will hold your attention. Livio shows great talent at bringing you into the mindset of each time period. But if your eyes glaze over at the idea of reading about math, Livio does not apologize for the depth of the material nor the intellectual wrestling it requires. As someone who could only remember the highlights of past mathematicians and was hooked on the ideas, it was educational and sparked a lot of internal thought.
It's worth noting that God is not a character in the book and His existence is not discussed or debated, despite the heavy billing on the cover of the book. It's only used as a way to rephrase the central question (or get you to pick up the book in the first place). In fact, Livio deftly avoids the topic altogether, even when discussing the persecution of the church on Copernicus and Galileo.
In total, if this book's subject matter sounds interesting, let me assure you that you will probably find it as such. He provides his short version of an answer to the question at the end, although he is sure to show how both sides of the argument continue to be discussed. As any experienced tour guide, Mario Livio leaves you better educated from the journey, and curious for more.
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He frames his inquiry with wha
Senior astrophysicist at the Hubble Space Telescope Science Institute and author of a few other math books aimed at the general public, Mario Livio has written a short, accessible, and in many ways profound exploration of the nature of mathematics. He centers his book around two questions: 1. "Is mathematics ultimately invented or discovered?" and 2. "Why is mathematics so effective and productive in explaining the world around us that it even yields new knowledge?"He frames his inquiry with what physicist Roger Penrose describes as the triple mystery. The idea is that there are three worlds that people experience: the world of physical reality, the world of our minds, and the abstract world of mathematics. Then the mysteries are as follows: 1. why would world of physical reality give rise to our minds that perceive the reality? 2. why would our minds give rise to abstract mathematics? and 3. why does mathematics so effectively describe the physical reality in which we exist?
Livio jumps off from there to do a very quick run through the history of mathematics from Pythagoras and Plato to Einstein and modern day theoretical physicists by way of Archimedes, Galileo, DeCartes, Newton, Gauss, Riemann, Boole, and Russell. What he concludes in the end, is a bit of a cop out, but an utterly convincing one. Mathematics is ultimately both invented and discovered. Namely, he suggests that humans have invented certain basic concepts, like Euclid's axioms, and then they discover the implications of those axioms. These discoveries are no less true because they are built on an invention of the human mind, but they are only true because of the initial acceptance of the foundational axioms that we invented.
On the question of why math so effectively describes the physical world, Livio is still a bit baffled as we all should be. There is much to suggest that mathematics comes from our observations of our physical environment and that there is a innate way our brains make sense of those observations through mathematics. However, we have seen many times where mathematicians have worked in very abstract areas with no intention of seeing applicability to the physical world, only to see direct application to the way our universe operates. This truly is inexplicable at the moment.
He ends with the following quote from Bertrand Russell's The Problems of Philosophy that I thinks speaks to the reason for studying anything:
"Thus to sum up our discussion of the value of philosophy; Philosophy is to be studied, not for the sake of any definite answers to its questions, since no definite answers can, as a rule, be known to be true, but rather for the sake of the questions themselves; because these questions enlarge our conception of what is possible, enrich our intellectual imagination and diminish the dogmatic assurance which closes the mind against speculation; but above all because, through the greatness of the universe which philosophy contemplates, the mind is also rendered great, and becomes capable of that union with the universe which constitutes its highest good."
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Einstein once wondered: "How is it possible that mathematics, a product of human thought that is independent of experience [the emphasis is mine], fits so excellently the objects of physical reality?"
Penrose identifies three different "worlds": the world of our conscious perceptions, the physical world, and the Platonic world of mathematical form
The reality is that without mathematics, modern-day cosmologists could not have progressed even one step in attempting to understand the laws of nature.Einstein once wondered: "How is it possible that mathematics, a product of human thought that is independent of experience [the emphasis is mine], fits so excellently the objects of physical reality?"
Penrose identifies three different "worlds": the world of our conscious perceptions, the physical world, and the Platonic world of mathematical forms.
And now, Penrose observes, come the three mysteries. First, the world of physical reality seems to obey laws that actually reside in the world of mathematical forms. This was the puzzle that left Einstein perplexed.
Even the brief description I have presented so far already provides overwhelming evidence of a universe that is either governed by mathematics or, at the very least, susceptible to analysis through mathematics.
Does mathematics have an existence that is entirely independent of the human mind? In other words, are we merely discovering mathematical verities, just as astronomers discover previously unknown galaxies? Or, is mathematics nothing but a human invention?
Atiyah therefore believes that "man has created [the emphasis is mine] mathematics by idealizing and abstracting elements of the physical world."
If you think that understanding whether mathematics was invented or discovered is not that important, consider how loaded the difference between "invented" and "discovered" becomes in the question: Was God invented or discovered? Or even more provocatively: Did God create humans in his own image, or did humans invent God in their own image?
examine the number of days in the lunar month—28. This number is the sum of all of its divisors (the numbers that divide it with no remainder): 28= 1 + 2 + 4 + 7 + 14. Numbers with this special property are called perfect nu...
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The famous British mathematician and philosopher Alfred North Whitehead (1861–1947) remarked once that "the safest generalization that can be made about the history of western philosophy is that it is all a series of footnotes to Plato."
Platonism in its broadest sense espouses a belief in some abstract eternal and immutable realities that are entirely independent of the transient world perceived by our senses.
Alfred North Whitehead remarked: The death of Archimedes at the hands of a Roman soldier is symbolical of a world change of the first magnitude. The Romans were a great race, but they were cursed by the sterility which waits upon practicality. They were not dreamers enough to arrive at new points of view, which could give more fundamental control over the forces of nature. No Roman lost his life because he was absorbed in the contemplation of a mathematical diagram.
In Aristarchus's universe the Earth and the planets revolved around a stationary Sun that was located at the center (remember that this model was proposed 1,800 years before Copernicus!).
Somewhat surprisingly perhaps, Archimedes himself considered as one of his most cherished accomplishments the discovery that the volume of a sphere inscribed in a cylinder (figure 15) is always 2/3 of the volume of the cylinder. He was so pleased with this result that he requested it be engraved on his tombstone.
The Scottish poet Thomas Seggett raved: Columbus gave man lands to conquer by bloodshed, Galileo new worlds harmful to none. Which is better?
To him, mathematics was simply the language of the universe. To understand the universe, he argued, one must speak this language. God is indeed a mathematician.
Woody Allen once put it: "What if everything is an illusion and nothing exists? In that case, I definitely overpaid for my carpet."
I have read somewhere that philosophy has always been chiefly engaged with the inter-relations of God, Nature, and Man. The earliest philosophers were Greeks who occupied themselves mainly with the relations between God and Nature, and dealt with Man separately. The Christian Church was so absorbed in the relation of God to Man as entirely to neglect Nature. Finally, modern philosophers concern themselves chiefly with the relations between Man and Nature.
Newton's famous quote "If I have seen further it is by standing on ye shoulders of Giants" is often presented as a model for the generosity and humility that scientists are expected to display about their greatest discoveries.
A few of the first explorers of the new vistas opened by differential equations were members of the legendary Bernoulli family. Between the mid-seventeenth century and the mid-nineteenth century, this family produced no fewer than eight prominent mathematicians.
In the Principia, Russell and Whitehead defended the view that mathematics was basically an elaboration of the laws of logic, with no clear demarcation between them.
Even the German mathematician of intuitionist inclinations Leopold Kronecker (1823–91) famously declared: "God created the natural numbers, all else is the work of man."
"Is mathematics created or discovered?" is the wrong question to ask because it implies that the answer has to be one or the other and that the two possibilities are mutually exclusive.
Instead, I suggest that mathematics is partly created and partly discovered.
Hamming's third point is that our impression of the effectiveness of mathematics may, in fact, be an illusion, since there is much in the world around us that mathematics does not really explain.
In support of this perspective I could note, for instance, that the mathematician Israïl Moseevich Gelfand was once quoted as having said: "There is only one thing which is more unreasonable than the unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics in physics, and this is the unreasonable ineffectiveness [emphasis added] of mathematics in biology."
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I believe the book would be accessible to the lay person.
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A noteworthy feature of mathematics is its strikingly effective provenance to explain natural features and phenomena. Why should it be so? Mathematics is anyway a product of human contemplation and analysis. If this fruit of human intelligence so faithfully displays an uncanny ability to explain and predict nature, it is no wonder that a group of philosophers – a large one indeed – postulated the existence of mathematics in an idealized Platonic world, whose reflections on the physical world constituted our everyday adventures. This raises the pertinent question whether mathematics is discovered or invented. The niceties of such philosophical speculation need not detain the readers, but Livio presents a deeply speculative question in an easy to digest way. The ideas of Platonic world and discovery are compatible, in the sense that the numbers and shapes already existed in a perfect, imaginary world until man stumbled upon them in a spark of intellectual brilliance. Just like America existed before it was 'discovered' by Columbus, or Vikings, or even by that Turkish guy – who provided some much needed comic relief in international discourse a few months ago – mathematics existed right from the universe's moment of being. But quite a few philosophers, and such humble beings like myself, differs from this point of view. According to this theory, mathematics is an abstract concept developed by man with the help of his extraordinary ability to detect patterns in nature. The book provides ample room for general readers to get familiar with this dichotomy that surrounds mathematics' existence.
History of science occupies a major portion of the book, but presented in an admirable way that commands attention from readers. Freely interspersed with witty anecdotes and informative quotes from authors present and past, the text stands tall as a testimony to the immense amount of research that had gone in to the publication of it. Livio identifies Archimedes, Newton and Gauss as the three greatest mathematicians of all time, but does not restrict his pen to these three. Would any discussion on the development of science through the Renaissance era be complete without a solid reference to that mathematics professor from Padua, Italy – Galileo Galilei, no less? Galileo's trial and the stifling overlordship of blind faith over reason is a topic you would find described umpteen number of times in any book that deals with the history of science through the turbulent 17th century. Livio's description would feel to be delightfully elegant to new readers. Old readers also would find the narration to be very congenial. This book extends the story to other mathematicians, including Descartes, and the Bernoullis. The sibling rivalry between Jakob and his brother Johann Bernoulli is brought to light with a quote from a letter the younger Johann wrote to his friend in which he exults at defeating his elder brother in the solution to a vexing problem. Mathematicians are also human, after all!
Even though Livio considers Gauss to be one of the three greatest ever mathematicians, nothing much is said about him apart from casual references in the context of non-Euclidean geometry. But this shortfall is more than leveled by the extensive discussion on the new developments in mathematics that took place during the last two centuries. The new sprouts are so revolutionary as to merit the epithet that man had broken free from the shackles of classical learning and began to explore nature in the light of a new creative spirit. A mind boggling array of discoveries had taken place in this period, but ordinary readers find it difficult to comprehend the practical purpose of many of them. Non-Euclidean geometry is however very helpful in estimating the shortest possible distance between any two points on a spherical surface. Aircrafts usually follow these shortest routes. But such hyperbolic geometry is extended to such extreme lengths that no apparent use is evident – yet! At around this time, logic was also linked to mathematics so as to strengthen the mutual foundations. Boolean algebra originated as the systematic representation of logic as ordinary algebra was to scientific concepts. Enhancement of geometry to many more dimensions than three enabled it to stand as the structural framework of advanced theories on the origins of the cosmos in the form of string theory, which postulates ten dimensions. This also shows the effectiveness of the discipline as a faithful representative of nature. But the long chapters on logic and discussions on its consistency are hard to enjoy for average readers.
A frequent source of controversy among mathematicians is the question whether its concepts should provide practical applications for human use. Such a notion itself is anathema to many practitioners who bask at the sheer glory of pure mathematics. Archimedes and G H Hardy were two mathematicians of this school. What would have been their impression when they saw their concepts eagerly accepted by the scholars and put to uses which provide immense value to their own societies? Archimedes is credited with the invention of a screw pump, levers of varying complexities, optical instruments and defensive apparatus, while much progress in cryptography is attributed to Hardy. There were mathematicians in the other camp as well, like Gerolamo Cardano, who wouldn't conceptualize the definition of more dimensions than three because no practical utility was existent at that time, nor conceived to be feasible in the near future.
The book is splendidly written, having a good structure in presenting ideas. It is also graced with a good number of anecdotes, pictures and illustrations. There is an immense collection of notes mentioned in the main text and a sizable bibliography is listed. A nice and comprehensive index completes the attractive side of the book. On the negative part, about a quarter of the text starting from logic and its relations to mathematics is highly abstract, making life difficult for the readers. Fortunately, no harm is done even if you were to simply bypass those chapters and dive straight to the last one.
The book is highly recommended.
...more When I started reading this book, I thought it was going to be a great resource to connect theology and mathematics in a way that aligned with my Christian faith. Though a connection to theology is definitely still applicable and likely intended, it seemed to me like the main point of the book was to learn about historically significant people and actions in the world of mathematics and not to determine how much of an alignment there was between mathematics and God. With that being said, there are plenty of instances throughout the book that Livio quotes mathematicians who provide their beliefs, whether for or against mathematics being governed only by the human mind.
Unfortunately, the book doesn't really clear anything up for puzzled readers. The author makes many references to his previous discussions in the book, yet ultimately ends with the same question it started with, "Is mathematics invented or discovered?" Livio's writing style, however, is nearly unmatched in the realm of imagery. I would imagine that those who have little to no understanding of the mathematics he mentions can still follow along. There are a few instances that he speaks of higher mathematics where it would be nice to have seen some things before, but all-in-all he uses great illustrations and figures to compliment his position that allow readers to follow along nearly effortlessly.
My final thoughts: A great read for anyone interested in mathematics. There are many mathematical topics that are included that need no accompaniment to keep the readers entertained. Readers will definitely hear from a lot of mathematicians, but the book leaves readers to conclude for themselves whether they believe mathematics to truly be invented or discovered.
...more Let me quote the author for a few lines that struck me personally:
"Galileo insisted that scientists should listen to nature itself,that the keys of deciphering the universe' parlance were mathematical relations and geometrical models..."
"For Newton the world's very existence and the mathematical regularity of the observed cosmos were evidence for GOd's presence..."
"Tegmark argues that our universe is not just described by Mathematics- it is Mathematics."
This book takes us through a wonderful journey to see the great efficiency of this subject in explaining this universe. However, the author does not arrive at a conclusive answer whether God is a Mathematician or not. However, an author after reading through these pages would surely be able to say that if God spoke a language, it must be mathematics. Mathematics is the language of God. It is the language with which God created the world.
Let me take my reflection a bit further. The strictly mathematical order (be it the mathematics of chaos too), implies the presence of a super intelligence who gave rise to all that we find around. An open look at the universe would surely be able to identify the presence of God around us. Science is not an enemy of religion as many religious people think. The truths of science and religion are not different either. Only that you need to keep your eyes, hearts and head open to identify the great message that the cosmos gives us. They preach to us of God, the over arching reality around us...
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Livio writes well, but whether his enthusiasm and expertise in his subject will not be enough to captivate you unless the history of science is already one of your favorite subjects. I have a Master's degree in physics, so I'm not approaching this as a layman. Many of the names and topics he addre I'm reading a lot of science history and popularization lately, and this was sitting on a bookshelf unread (don't ask why) It's just the sort of thing you'll like, if this is the sort of thing you like.
Livio writes well, but whether his enthusiasm and expertise in his subject will not be enough to captivate you unless the history of science is already one of your favorite subjects. I have a Master's degree in physics, so I'm not approaching this as a layman. Many of the names and topics he addresses were already quite familiar to me. And it turn out that philosophy is interesting to me as a layman, so I'm sort of Livio's perfect audience.
So to give away the answer to the title question (this isn't a spoiler in the way that revealing the murderer would be) is: yes and no. The question boils down to whether mathematics is "invented" or "discovered" by humans. At first glance, it seems silly, obviously mathematics is a human construction. But not so fast: countless natural processes have been described and even predicted by mathematical processes to the degree that it seems supernatural--someone termed this the "unreasonable effectiveness" of mathematics. Livio weaves fascinating (to me) stories of the history of math since Pythagoras with the musings of philosophers about what part of the human mind is responsible for it compared to nature. Livio marshalls great arguments for both positions, and at the very least it should provoke some musing on the relationship of the human brain to the rest of nature and the cosmos.
I hope this is enough information to entice you if you are at all interested in these things. And if you just can't get enough, there is a breathtaking bibliography at the end; I would guess there are 350 entries. ...more
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