Leiden University Student Repository

Perigault Monte, Sabine (2020)

The effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences viewed from a Computational Perspective

Bachelor thesis | Wijsbegeerte (BA)

In 1960 Eugene Wigner wrote the famous article: “The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in The Natural Sciences”. Here Wigner claims mathematics is the star of the show in natural science, as mathematical formulations lead to amazing and accurate descriptions of a large class of phenomena. Mathematical concepts, although invented in isolation from the natural sciences, are effective ‘beyond all reasonable explanation’. This effectiveness has puzzled commentators ever since. But Wigner seems to presuppose a fairly simplistic relation between mathematics and the natural world: the effectiveness of the application of mathematics to the world can be immediately interpreted as effectiveness of mathematics itself. But is it indeed that simple? Should we not pay more attention to the process of application itself?

mathematics

computer science

Eugene Wigner

Effectiveness

philosophy

Author

Perigault Monte, Sabine

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Specialisation

Theoretical Philosophy

Supervisors

Gijsbers, Victor

ECTS Credits

10

Language

en