TY - GEN digital ID - 131911793 TI - The Mathematical Representation of Physical Reality PY - 2023 SN - 9783031212543 9783031212536 9783031212550 9783031212567 PB - Cham Springer Nature DB - UniCat KW - Mathematical logic KW - Philosophy of science KW - Mathematics KW - wetenschapsfilosofie KW - wiskunde KW - logica UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:131911793 AB - This book deals with the rise of mathematics in physical sciences, beginning with Galileo and Newton and extending to the present day. The book is divided into two parts. The first part gives a brief history of how mathematics was introduced into physics-despite its "unreasonable effectiveness" as famously pointed out by a distinguished physicist-and the criticisms it received from earlier thinkers. The second part takes a more philosophical approach and is intended to shed some light on that mysterious effectiveness. For this purpose, the author reviews the debate between classical philosophers on the existence of innate ideas that allow us to understand the world and also the philosophically based arguments for and against the use of mathematics in physical sciences. In this context, Schopenhauer's conceptions of causality and matter are very pertinent, and their validity is revisited in light of modern physics. The final question addressed is whether the effectiveness of mathematics can be explained by its "existence" in an independent platonic realm, as Gòˆdel believed. The book aims at readers interested in the history and philosophy of physics. It is accessible to those with only a very basic (not professional) knowledge of physics. ER -