Beautiful Equations Reflect Beauty of Creation I suppose one of the greatest scientists Ive ever known was Paul Dirac, who, for more than thirty years, occupied Newtons old professorship in Cambridge. He was one of the founding fathers of quantum theory, and he spent his life looking for beautiful equations. You might find this a rather odd idea, but mathematical beauty is something that those with an eye for such matters can recognize quite easily. Dirac looked for beautiful equations because, time and again, weve found that theyre the ones that describe the physical world. Dirac once said that it was more important to have beauty in your equations than to have them agree with experiment! Of course, he didnt mean that it didnt matter whether or not the equations fitted the facts, but if there was a discrepancy it might be due to not having solved the equations correctly, or, even, that the experiments might be wrong. At least, there was a chance that it would all work out in the end, but, if the equations were ugly . . . well, then there was no chance at all. When we use mathematics in this way—as the key to unlocking the secrets of the universe—something very strange is happening. Mathematics is pure thought. Our mathematical friends sit in their studies, and they dream up, out of their heads, the beautiful patterns of pure mathematics (thats what mathematics is really about, making and analyzing patterns). What Im saying is that some of the most beautiful of these patterns are actually found to occur, out there, in the structure of the physical world around us. So what ties together the reason within (the mathematics in our heads) and the reason without (the structure of the physical world)? Remember, its a very deep connection, going far beyond anything we need for everyday survival. Why is the world so understandable? This puzzled Einstein. He once said that the only incomprehensible thing about the universe is that its comprehensible. Why can we figure it out so well? Why is science possible? You could think about it in the following way. What Ive been saying is that the universe, in its rational beauty and transparency, looks like a world shot through with signs of mind, and, maybe, its the capital M Mind of God we are seeing. In other words, the reason within and the reason without fit together because they have a common origin in the reason of the Creator, who is the ground of all that is. An ancient verse in Genesis comes to mind, which says that humanity is made in the image of God. I actually think this is what makes science possible. Source: Quarks, Chaos & Christianity, a book by John Polkinghorne who is a theoretical physicist and Anglican priest
Posted on: Thu, 24 Jul 2014 20:22:25 +0000
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