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Full Idea
The great book of the universe cannot be understood unless one can understand the language in which it is written - the language of mathematics.
Gist of Idea
To understand the universe mathematics is essential
Source
Galileo Galilei (Il Saggiatore ('The Assayer') [1623], VI.232)
Book Ref
Cottingham,John: 'The Rationalists' [OUP 1988], p.5
A Reaction
Nice, though one might say that humans created the language of maths to help them discuss the patterns they perceived in nature. Maybe what is special is order, and all order can be described mathematically.
| 7401 | Heat and colour don't exist, so cannot mislead about the external world [Galileo, by Tuck] |
| 5454 | Tastes, odours and colours only reside in consciousness, and would disappear with creatures [Galileo] |
| 16560 | Galileo introduced geometrico-mechanical explanation, based on Archimedes [Galileo, by Machamer/Darden/Craver] |
| 3645 | To understand the universe mathematics is essential [Galileo] |