From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Msuck: nntp://news.gmane.io/gmane.science.mathematics.categories/5424 Path: news.gmane.org!not-for-mail From: Zinovy Diskin Newsgroups: gmane.science.mathematics.categories Subject: Re: A well kept secret? Date: Fri, 25 Dec 2009 15:06:00 -0500 Message-ID: References: Reply-To: Zinovy Diskin NNTP-Posting-Host: lo.gmane.org Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-Trace: ger.gmane.org 1261773456 15046 80.91.229.12 (25 Dec 2009 20:37:36 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@ger.gmane.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 25 Dec 2009 20:37:36 +0000 (UTC) To: Ronnie Brown Original-X-From: categories@mta.ca Fri Dec 25 21:37:29 2009 Return-path: Envelope-to: gsmc-categories@m.gmane.org Original-Received: from mailserv.mta.ca ([138.73.1.1]) by lo.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 4.50) id 1NOGue-00043H-FA for gsmc-categories@m.gmane.org; Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:37:28 +0100 Original-Received: from Majordom by mailserv.mta.ca with local (Exim 4.61) (envelope-from ) id 1NOGYy-00032f-Hu for categories-list@mta.ca; Fri, 25 Dec 2009 16:15:04 -0400 In-Reply-To: <4B322ACA.50202@btinternet.com> Original-Sender: categories@mta.ca Precedence: bulk Xref: news.gmane.org gmane.science.mathematics.categories:5424 Archived-At: On Wed, Dec 23, 2009 at 9:35 AM, Ronnie Brown wrote: > First a slight correction: =C2=A0The paper referred to was I think > > Wigner, E.P., The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the > Natural Sciences, Comm. in Pure Appl. Math. (1960), reprinted in > Symmetries and reflections: scientific essays of Eugene P. Wigner, > Bloomington Indiana University Press (1967). Here are some > quotations from this article: > ------------------------------------------------------------------------- yes, I meant this paper, I apologize for the wrong reference. Actually, I literally translated the Russian translation of the title (that I remembered) back into English. The result turned out to be not an identity, and even not an isomorphism > ... that the enormous usefulness of mathematics in the physical > sciences is something bordering on the mysterious, and that there is > no rational explanation for it. > Here's an absolutely rational explanation. Suppose that once upon a time there were two classes of people, say, A and B, with different logics and aesthetics and criteria of elegance. Correspondingly, they had developed different mathematics, MA and MB. It so happened that A-aesthetics and thinking based on it turned out to be inadequate for the reality, and people A were eaten by saber-toothed tigers. Mathematics MA was forgotten and its traces can now be found in ancient archives only. I'm afraid that the A-destiny is awaiting the opponents of cat theory and their non-categorical math. :) [Do not take it seriously, I understand that category theory is just a good mathematics, not a different mathematics]. Happy Holidays! Z. [For admin and other information see: http://www.mta.ca/~cat-dist/ ]