In 1960, the physicist Eugene Wigner published an article, “The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences,” which has attracted great interest and controversy. Is math’s effectiveness, especially in physics, indeed “unreasonable,” a mystery with no rational explanation? Or is such effectiveness more apparent than real, a kind of selection bias: you see what you look for, or you only pay attention when it works? Does mathematics convey deeper meaning?
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