Thursday, August 23, 2007

The book of the world before our eyes is written in the language of Mathematics

A long time ago. it was pointed out by Galileo that the book of the world before our eyes is written in the language of Mathematics. Compartmentaliztion of knowledge is the work of man. Oftentimes to learn Physics properly one has to discover sequentially the same problems that presented before students of the past (the philosophers or scientists who are famous names today). To solve the problem of finding instantaneous velocity of a freely falling body the mathematical technique known as Differential Calculus was invented. Richard Feynman used to say that 'we can always invent the maths that we need to, at any stage'. But young students coming fresh after matriculation miss the point altogether. So, if one wishes to really do it properly one can start with study of mechanics and discover the mathematics as one goes along, for example, why calculus is absolutely necessary or why vectors are such an elegant method of expressing kinematics by formulae. In short, you have to learn the mathematics like calculus right away (you can't wait till your next class!) and secondly the best way to do that is not to learn it in isolation but rather intertwined with your physics.