Daily Archives: February 3, 2000

Feb 3 2000

Concerning my essay about mathematics and education, I received some suggestions. Thank you!

You can find one in the discussion group, two were send to me by email:

Two interesting links from Chris:

Explore Science CoWeb Page and Papers, Reports & Articles

Oliver Breidenbach says:

Mathematik ist der Ursprung des Universums. Wenn man so will die Seele.
Mathematik ist das ursprüngliche, wundersame dieser Welt. Das, was
Mathematik zur Mathematik macht, macht sozusagen das Leben zum Leben.

Die Mathematik zeigt, dass etwas existiert, wenn es beschrieben werden kann
und lehrt gleichzeitig, dass etwas beschrieben werden kann, wenn es
existiert.

Das Universum besteht überwiegend aus Mathematik. Mathematik ist das
Einzige, das groß genung ist, das Universum (und sich selbst) zu enthalten.

[Translation: Mathematics is the origin of the universe, the soul of it. It’s the initial, the wondrous of the world. What defines mathematics to be mathematics, defines life to be life.

Mathematics shows that something exists if it can be described and teaches that something can be described if it exists.

The universe consists mainly of mathematics. Mathematics is the only thing large enough to contain the universe (and mathematics itself).]

Literature:

Carl Sagan (astronomer, scientist): Contact
Richard P. Feynman (physicist): What Do You Care What Other People Think (Kümmert Sie, was andere Leute denken?)

My first conclusion: There’s more to mathematics than just mathematics: a lot of philosophy, too.