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ASTRONOMY

 
 

Is God a Mathematician?

Mario Livio (Space Telescope Science Institute)

For centuries, mathematical theories have proven uncannily accurate at describing - and predicting - the physical world. In "Is God A Mathematician?" I will attempt to explain WHY. The talk will span such fields as cosmology, religion, and cognitive science, and will offer an accessible and lively account of the lives and thoughts of some of the greatest mathematicians in history, from Archimedes to Galileo, Descartes, and Newton to Godel, on up to the present day. Along the way I will attempt to answer a question with which mathematicians, philosophers, and neuroscientists have struggled for centuries: Is mathematics ultimately invented or discovered?