Mathematics is a potent tool in physics describing everything from shapes of planetary orbits to the properties of atoms. Methods used to predict the existence of the planet Neptune, radio waves, and the Higgs Boson. The most extreme possibility is that our universe is completely magical, in the sense that it has known properties that accept mathematical properties. But at a quick look, our universe doesn’t seem mathematical at all in fact it just looks like a bunch of stars and planets. Everything in our universe is made up of particles such as quarks and electrons. Publisher weekly states “If space is mathematical and everything in space is also then, the idea that everything in the universe is mathematical doesn’t seem so crazy anymore.” Quantum mathematics and string theory introduce even more mathematical structures, physicists still haven’t found any properties of nature that we can prove are non-mathematical.
Math is a tool that we use in our everyday lives! MIT professor Max Tegmark questions, “Why does our universe seem so mathematical, and what does it mean?” Tegmark’s reply was “ In my new book “Our Mathematical Universe,” Tegmark argues “It means our universe isn’t just described by math, but that we’re all parts of an enormous mathematical object, which successfully is a component of a multiverse so huge that it makes the opposite multiverses debated in recent years seem puny in compared.” According to Tegmark, it means “mathematics no more describes the universe than atoms describe the objects they compose; rather math within the universe.” Math within the universe is what has gotten us to a breakthrough in all of our scientific discoveries. We wouldn’t have been able to do the calculations to send people out into space. Someday we will have a better understanding of math that will transport people to mars and it will be a very big mathematical and scientific breakthrough.
Math is everywhere we look and even makes up you! There are two fundamental ways of looking at mathematics. Either mathematics powers the world – it’s the fundamental engine- or mathematics just describes the world. In the latter system, arithmetic is the human concept. Both models are pretty good. Mathematics is a logical structure using units, and there is no sense without the light to understand it. If math is everywhere, and maths just numbers, then where are these numbers coming from? All things on earth you can see numbers, for example, the food you eat comes with numbers that are also known as calories. Sports come with numbers, the formulas it takes for you to hit that ball right over the fence. Even you, yourself is a number. Your weight and age are numbers. Finding the love of your life is also mathematics. There are 7.594 billion people in this world recorded in 2018(World bank).
According to an British researcher Mrs. Riley she states “A mathematician in England worked with a team of researchers to figure out all the big requirements and deal-breakers people have when it comes to dating. And she calculated that if you don’t even TRY, the odds of meeting someone you could fall in love with on any given day are 1 in 562. Those are the odds for people in England. It’s not clear how well it would translate if you ran the numbers in the U.S. She also found seven things you can do to give yourself even better odds . . . and online dating is number one. Using an online dating site ups your chances by 17%. Hanging out with coworkers and their friends is next at 16%. And talking to people at the gym is third at 15%. Meeting people through a shared interest or hobby gives you an 11% boost. Talking to people at bars, 9% . . . meeting your friends’ friends, 4% . . . and being set up on dates by a family member only gives you a 1% boost.” Finding your forever person is very slim but it all includes mathematics within finding them. The universe has its way of letting everything happen the way it’s supposed to and it all comes down to probability on when and how it’s going to happen.
Nature is full of math all over. Nature has so many different shapes and patterns. Think of being in a forest, all the shapes and patterns surrounding you. The way each flower looks different but has the same pattern. There are many different theories/sequences in nature on why each pattern is the way they are. There is the Fibonacci Sequence, one of the most famous formulas in mathematics. “Each number in the sequence is the sum of the two numbers that precede it. So, the sequence goes: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, and so on. The mathematical equation describing it is Xn+2= Xn+1 + Xn” -Tia Ghose. “Pythagoras was the first to discover the musical harmony we enjoy is, based on patterns, ratios to be precise.”- Patricia Jenkins. Honeycombs, cannonballs, bees, foam, cracks, and waves are also patterns that involve math(Jenkins).
In the end, it always comes down to problem-solving. To most people math might just be a subject in school but it’s really something that makes up everything we look at, everything we do, and everything we see. There is a quote that states “mathematics may not teach us how to add love or minus hate. But it gives us every reason to hope that every problem has a solution.” said Ruth S. Math has taught us that when we get into a situation we think that there isn’t a solution, there is we just haven’t tried hard enough for it. It taught us basic life skills and we weren’t even aware of it, we are going to be able to take this with us the rest of our life. Situations in life won’t always be the easiest to solve but math problems weren’t either, but by the end of the day you figured out the answer to the math problem and we will do the same thing in life. The next time you hear a kid say “when am I ever going to use math,” tell them “you use it every day to solve life problems.” It may not come in a mathematical form but it’s still math, and you’re still using it.