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Calculating the Cosmos: How Mathematics Unveils the Universe

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Ian Stewart
Ian Stewart

Ian Stewart was an accomplished mathematician known for his contributions to mathematics education, popularization of mathematics, and the history of mathematics. His work spanned a wide range of fields from algebraic geometry to the philosophy of mathematics. more

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“Highly complex numbers like the Comma of Pythagoras, Pi and Phi (sometimes called the Golden Proportion), are known as irrational numbers. They lie deep in the structure of the physical universe, and were seen by the Egyptians as the principles controlling creation, the principles by which matter is precipitated from the cosmic mind. Today scientists recognize the Comma of Pythagoras, Pi and the Golden Proportion as well as the closely related Fibonacci sequence are universal constants that describe complex patterns in astronomy, music and physics. ... To the Egyptians these numbers were also the secret harmonies of the cosmos and they incorporated them as rhythms and proportions in the construction of their pyramids and temples.”

NumbersPhysicsCosmosHistory Of ScienceFine Structure ConstantPiGolden RatioHistory Of MathematicsConstants Of NatureAncient EgyptiansPythagorasGolden ProportionPhiFibonacci
Author:Jonathan Black, Mark Booth
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“God is a pure mathematician!' declared British astronomer Sir James Jeans. The physical Universe does seem to be organised around elegant mathematical relationships. And one number above all others has exercised an enduring fascination for physicists: 137.0359991.... It is known as the fine-structure constant and is denoted by the Greek letter alpha (α).”

MathematicsPhysicsAstronomyMathematicianHistory Of ScienceFine Structure ConstantPhysicistsSir James Jeans
Author:Paul Davies
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“Now let us analyze the other two occupants of the inner Sanctuary or Oracle. They are the two cherubim who guard the Ark ... [and] "The Molten Sea" ...There are also two other elements of the Temple of which they are the image, and these other two units are the Great Pyramid and the Inner Court (The Molten Sea = 137 = MG = Two Cherubim = Great Pyramid = Inner Court. All four of these elements are reflections of each other, and they constitute the real key to understanding the mystery of the Temple of Solomon. ..."The Ark of the Covenant of the Lord" [is] a mirror image of "The Great Pyramid of the Emperor" ....”

Fine Structure ConstantAncient HistoryKabbalahGreat PyramidArk Of The CovenantCabalahTemple Of Solomon
Book:The English Cabalah, Vol. 1: The Mysteries of Pi
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“A good example of the archetypal ideas which the archetypes produce are natural numbers or integers. With the aid of the integers the shaping and ordering of our experiences becomes exact. Another example is mathematical group theory. ...important applications of group theory are symmetries which can be found in most different connections both in nature and among the 'artifacts' produced by human beings. Group theory also has important applications in mathematics and mathematical physics. For example, the theory of elementary particles and their interactions can in essential respects be reduced to abstract symmetries. [The Message of the Atoms: Essays on Wolfgang Pauli and the Unspeakable]”

NumbersAtomsSymmetryHistory Of ScienceFine Structure ConstantArchetypesWolfgang PauliGroup Theory
Author:K. V. Laurikainen
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“The unsolved problems of the physical world now seem even more formidable than those solved in the twentieth century. Though in application it works splendidly, we do not even understand the physical meaning of quantum mechanics, much less how it might be united with general relativity. We don't know why the dimensionless constants (ratios of masses of elementary particles, ratios of strength of gravitational to electric forces, fine structure constant, etc.) have the values they do, unless we appeal to the implausible anthropic principle, which seems like a regression to Aristotelian teleology.”

PhysicsHistory Of ScienceFine Structure ConstantAnthropic PrincipleConstants Of Nature
Book:Physics, the Human Adventure: From Copernicus to Einstein and Beyond
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“The power of the deductive network produced in physics has been illustrated in a delightful article by Victor F. Weisskopf. He begins by taking the magnitudes of six physical constants known by measurement: the mass of the proton, the mass and electric charge of the electron, the light velocity, Newton's gravitational constant, and the quantum of action of Planck. He adds three of four fundamental laws (e.g., de Broglie's relations connecting particle momentum and particle energy with the wavelength and frequency, and the Pauli exclusion principle), and shows that one can then derive a host of different, apparently quite unconnected, facts that happen to be known to us by observation separately ....”

PhysicsHistory Of ScienceFine Structure ConstantConstants Of NatureFundamental Laws Of NaturePhysical ConstantsVictor Weisskopf
Book:The Scientific Imagination: With a New Introduction
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“One of the most curious of these stories about Pauli concerns the number 137. One of the great unsolved mysteries of modern physics is the value of the fine structure constant, for while the other fundamental constants of nature are all immensely small or enormously large, this fine structure constant 1/137 turns out to be a human-sized number. This number 137 and its place in the scale of the universe particularly puzzled Pauli and continues to challenge physicists today. I was a mystery that Pauli was to take to his death, for on being admitted into the hospital, the physicist was told that he was being put into room 137. According to one version of this story on learning of his room number, Pauli said, "I will never get out of here." The physicist died shortly after.”

PsychologyPhilosophy Of LifeSynchronicityHistory Of ScienceFine Structure ConstantHistory Of Physics
Book:Synchronicity: The Bridge Between Matter and Mind
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“We present a series of hypotheses and speculations, leading inescapably to the conclusion that SU(5) is the gauge group of the world — that all elementary particle forces (strong, weak, and electromagnetic) are different manifestations of the same fundamental interaction involving a single coupling strength, the fine-structure constant. Our hypotheses may be wrong and our speculations idle, but the uniqueness and simplicity of our scheme are reasons enough that it be taken seriously.”

TheoryMathematicsPhysicsFine Structure Constant
Author:Howard Georgi & S. L. Glashow
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