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Book review: Our Mathematical Universe, by Max Tegmark

It has been a commonplace of physicists and cosmologists since the time of Galileo that the world is described by mathematics, although some have puzzled over why this should be so. Tegmark, who is a cosmologist and a professor at MIT, takes the idea further than most by saying that the universe is not just described by mathematics, it is a mathematical object. In this book he sets out to explain his idea to a non-specialist audience, pretty much without the use of equations. Since his idea is essentially mathematical that may seem like an impossible task, but Tegmark writes clearly and informally and he does a good job of putting complex information into an accessible form.

As he explains at the beginning, he has written a very personal book. In Tegmark's words, this is "a scientific autobiography of sorts: although it's more about physics than it's about me, it's certainly not your standard popular science book ... Rather, it's my personal quest for the ultimate nature of reality, which I hope you'll enjoy seeing through my eyes." [More]

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John Floyd on :

Perhaps we are coming full-circle and again realizing the inseparability of philosophy and mathematics?

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