Is God a Mathematician?

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Is God a Mathematician? Page 29

by Mario Livio


  to contradict what has become known as the principle of mediocrity: For an excellent discussion of this topic see Vilenkin 2006.

  adopt an intermediate position known as realism: Putnam 1975.

  Let me first briefly review: There are other opinions that I do not discuss. For instance, Steiner (2005) argues that Wigner does not show that the examples that he gives for “unreasonable effectiveness” have anything to do with the fact that the concepts are mathematical.

  Physics Nobel laureate David Gross writes: Gross 1988. For further discussion of the relationship between mathematics and physics, see Vafa 2000.

  Sir Michael Atiyah, whose views on the nature: Atiyah 1995; see also Atiyah 1993.

  mathematician and computer scientist Richard Hamming: Hamming 1980.

  A similar interpretation was proposed: Weinberg 1993.

  Gelfand was once quoted: In Borovik 2006.

  Raskin concluded that: Raskin 1998.

  Hersh proposed that in the spirit: Excellent article by Hersh in Hersh 2000.

  Kepler used a huge body of data: Kepler’s own books, reprinted as Kepler 1981 and 1997, make for very interesting reading in the history of science. Excellent biographies include Caspar 1993 and Gingerich 1973.

  the orbits of the planets may eventually: For a review, see Lecar et al. 2001.

  The answer is actually simpler: An interesting discussion of the utility of mathematics appears in Raymond 2005. Insightful perspectives on Wigner’s enigma are also found in Wilczek 2006, 2007.

  Bertrand Russell in The Problems of Philosophy: Russell 1912.

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