Numbers You Can Count On
‘An equation for me has no meaning unless it expresses a thought of God.’
- Srinivasa Ramanujan
'Long ago, it became increasingly evident to our ancestors that Nature displayed both predictable and unpredictable events. The unpredictable aspects of things were dangerous and fearful. Perhaps they were punishments rained down by the gods to show their displeasure at human behavior. They were also remarkable; as a result, ancient chronicles have a lot to say about plague, disaster and pestilence. Less newsworthy, but ultimately more significant, were the metronomic predictabilities of Nature. By noting and exploiting the periodic changes in the environment, crops could be grown, stocks laid in for the winter, and defenses made against the incursions of wind and water. These regularities of Nature mirrored the regularities that structured stable societies and engendered a belief in law and order on a cosmic scale. Eventually, aided by the monotheistic faiths of many Western societies, these ideas nurtured the idea that there exist things called ‘laws of Nature’ that hold at all times and in all places. These universal laws prescribe how things will behave not, like human laws, how they ought to behave.'
- John Barrow, from his work 'The Constants of Nature.'
- Srinivasa Ramanujan
'Long ago, it became increasingly evident to our ancestors that Nature displayed both predictable and unpredictable events. The unpredictable aspects of things were dangerous and fearful. Perhaps they were punishments rained down by the gods to show their displeasure at human behavior. They were also remarkable; as a result, ancient chronicles have a lot to say about plague, disaster and pestilence. Less newsworthy, but ultimately more significant, were the metronomic predictabilities of Nature. By noting and exploiting the periodic changes in the environment, crops could be grown, stocks laid in for the winter, and defenses made against the incursions of wind and water. These regularities of Nature mirrored the regularities that structured stable societies and engendered a belief in law and order on a cosmic scale. Eventually, aided by the monotheistic faiths of many Western societies, these ideas nurtured the idea that there exist things called ‘laws of Nature’ that hold at all times and in all places. These universal laws prescribe how things will behave not, like human laws, how they ought to behave.'
- John Barrow, from his work 'The Constants of Nature.'
