We will discuss Eugene Wigner's paper "The unreasonable effectivness of mathematics in the natural sciences" (1960). This is a classic paper every complex-systems scientist can benefit from (in fact any researcher in the mathematical sciences). It would be good if all participants could read the paper before the session (link at the end of the abstract).
In his paper Wigner develops what he calls "the empirical law of epistemology". Mathematics appears to be appropriate to describe the natural world to high accuracy. This is an empirical observation. It is not an inevitable necessity. As Wigner says "The miracle of the appropriateness of the language of mathematics for the formulation of the laws of physics is a wonderful gift which we neither understand nor deserve. We should be grateful for it."
In the session, we will talk about Wigner's paper, and discuss some surrounding questions. These could include:
- What drives the development of new mathematics?
- Is the effectiveness of mathematics in the sciences “unreasonable”?
- Is our ability to do mathematics a consequence of evolution?
Wigner's paper can be downloaded here:
https://cloud.ifisc.uib-csic.es/nextcloud/index.php/s/TQCEtZSraG6RaX4
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