Is God a Mathematician?SalonIn-Person

In this salon, astrophysicist Mario Livio explores why mathematics is as powerful as it is in terms of explaining the cosmos—a phenomenon Nobel Laureate in Physics Eugene Wigner dubbed “the unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics.” From ancient times to the present, scientists and philosophers have marveled at how such a seemingly abstract discipline, which appears to have been a product of human thought, could so perfectly explain the natural world. Livio examines the ways in which mathematics has often made predictions, for example, about the existence of then unknown subatomic particles, which were later proven to exist. He also discusses an intriguing question with which mathematicians, physicists, psychologists, and philosophers have struggled for decades: Is mathematics ultimately a discovery, or merely an invention of the human mind? Along the way, participants learn the stories and insights of renowned mathematicians, philosophers, and scientists from Pythagoras to Penrose, and from Galileo to Gödel, who have shaped the ideas about the nature of reality, mathematics, and philosophy.

2 credits for school members

Dinner & refreshments included

Limited to 18 teachers