Lazarovici, Dustin (2023) Why the Book of Nature is Written in the Language of Mathematics. [Preprint]

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Abstract

The essay traces the following idea from the presocratic philosopher Heraclitus, to the Pythagoreans, to Newton's Principia: Laws of nature are laws of proportion for matter in motion. Proportions are expressed by numbers or, as the essay proposes, even identical to real numbers. It is argued that this view is still relevant to modern physics and helps us understand why physical laws are mathematical.

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Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Lazarovici, Dustin dustin@technion.ac.il 0000-0002-1484-1172
Additional Information:	Forthcoming in: Bassi, A., Goldstein, S., Tumulka, R., and Zanghì, N. (eds.), Physics and the Nature of Reality: Essays in Memory of Detlef Dürr. Heidelberg: Springer
Keywords:	Philosophy of Mathematics, Laws of Nature, Effectiveness of Mathematics, Presocratic Philosophy
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Mathematics > Applicability Specific Sciences > Mathematics > History General Issues > Laws of Nature Specific Sciences > Physics
Depositing User:	Dr. Dustin Lazarovici
Date Deposited:	27 Jul 2023 17:36
Last Modified:	27 Jul 2023 17:36
Item ID:	22343
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Mathematics > Applicability Specific Sciences > Mathematics > History General Issues > Laws of Nature Specific Sciences > Physics
Date:	2023
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/22343

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