The Most Seductive Equation in Science: Beauty Equals Truth

The New York Times ^ | 26 March 2002 | Dennis Overbye

[SBeck]

Tis true. An equation on mother Earth works the same way in the most distant galaxy.

[stanz]

As one who is and has always been mathematically challenged, I can only appreciate its beauty from afar. If I had one wish it would probably be to see through Einstein's eyes for just one day.

[Fiddlstix]

Bump

[tsomer]

I think the truth = beauty notion is b.s.

Liberals for example, confuse their morality with their aesthetics. That may be the origin of liberalism.

[linear]

I suspect that when we are able to articulate the unified equation, it will be "I am who am."

[balrog666]

I think the truth = beauty notion is b.s. Liberals for example, confuse their morality with their aesthetics. That may be the origin of liberalism.

I think the explanation is even simpler, because truth is beautiful, idiots (meaning liberals) presume that beauty must be truth. They seem to believe this even while recognizing that beauty is subjective and exists is only in the eye, and mind, of the beholder.

[stanz]

I think the truth = beauty notion is b.s.

How about the beauty of logic. That's where I was going.

[xsrdx]

Equations I remember...

E=MC^2

KE=1/2MV^2

Pv=nRT

A=PiR^2 (But no, Pi R Round)

There are some cool astronomical ones involving gravity that I can't recall, also; G=m something. Newtonian stuff, very elegant. Also the aerodynamics equations for lift & drag are remarkably simple also IIRC. Thermodynamics has some great ones too.

The most incredible stuff I remember involves the application of natural and base 10 Logarithms, and how well Calculus can describe the physical world. I don't understand it, but it works.

[SBeck]

Nice to see, as I toil through a hypsometric equation, that someone remembers the gas laws.

[NonZeroSum]

An equation on mother Earth works the same way in the most distant galaxy.

We don't know that. We take it to be one of the axioms of science, but it can't be proven.

[js1138]

Is anyone else troubled by the fact that the beautiful equations for gravity, relativity, etc. are just approximations (relativity falls apart at the atomic level). And the really great numbers are irrational?

[Paradox]

Nice to see, as I toil through a hypsometric equation, that someone remembers the gas laws.

Yeah, like "He who smelt it, dealt it."

[Chemist_Geek]

Nice to see, as I toil through a hypsometric equation, that someone remembers the gas laws.

They're the ones that really matter. And remember: S = k_B ln W.

[William Tell]

js1138 said: "Is anyone else troubled by the fact that the beautiful equations for gravity, relativity, etc. are just approximations (relativity falls apart at the atomic level). And the really great numbers are irrational? "

No. The beauty that people are seeing is the satisfaction derived from understanding. Simple Newtonian physics is beautiful as long as it appears to predict physical outcomes. When the quantum theory is developed, it destroys the beauty of Newtonian physics, but replaces it with a beauty which derives from the ability to describe a wider range of phenomenon.

The things that we do not yet understand will someday become the basis for a more complicated, but more "beautiful", equation describing them.

[headsonpikes]

"And the really great numbers are irrational."

Root 2 bump. ;^)

[js1138]

This might get me flamed, but it appears we are creating approximate descriptions that will eventually be replaced by better descriptions. The beauty is in the mind of the description's creator, not nature, because the description is never exact.

There was a time not too long ago when physicists hoped that the simplicity of descriptive equations said something about their truth.

[Pearls Before Swine]

Some of the really great numbers are transcendental. Rational numbers can be expressed as a ratio (finite fraction), irrationals cannot, such as the square root of 2 or the Golden Mean. These require the use of polynomial roots. But the transcendentals can't be expressed exactly with roots--these include numbers like pi and "e."

I think (js1138) mentioned Steven Weinberg. I think he is also quoted as saying something like "the more we learn about the universe, the more pointless it all seems."

[js1138]

transcendental...

Whoops! My bad.

[js1138]

"the more we learn about the universe, the more pointless it all seems."

Or the more godlike. I think it's kind of cool the way there's always another doll inside each one we open.

[SBeck]

We take it to be one of the axioms of science, but it can't be proven.

Yet.