Full Idea
In science we treat the earth's surface as flat, we assume the ocean to be infinitely deep, we use continuous functions for what we know to be quantised, and we take liquids to be continuous despite atomic theory.
Gist of Idea
Science idealises the earth's surface, the oceans, continuities, and liquids
Source
Penelope Maddy (Naturalism in Mathematics [1997], II.6)
Book Reference
Maddy,Penelope: 'Naturalism in Mathematics' [OUP 2000], p.143
A Reaction
If fussy people like scientists do this all the time, how much more so must the confused multitude be doing the same thing all day?