Math = Beauty

Math is a powerful tool to make sense of this world. It self-regulates and tells me I did stupid things if I was not consistent. I have to remember my assumptions as I work through calculations. If these assumptions contradict each other, then math simply tells me so.

It happened this afternoon. I was trying to get a physics formula from a series of calculations. I got the formula, but then I realized that there was a contradiction in one of the assumptions. So I had to throw out the formula even though it was exactly the formula I was looking for.

I know my previous calculations were garbage, I needed to think of another path.

I found the path and also got the formula I was looking for. This time, it has no contradiction. I got another payoff: the path gives a clearer and more elegant answer.

I remember buying that "Godel, Escher, Bach" book to understand the beauty of math when I was undergrad, but I never finished reading it. It is too complicated for me. A more satisfying read is "Why Beauty is Truth" as it also tells about history of symmetry. Books that teach me how to appreciate beauty in math.

I sometimes tell students to have faith in math. That is, we have to allow math to run its course and not to interfere with its process. Try not to have expectations when doing calculations. When there is no contradiction, math will simply show its beauty.