Pop-math book publishing coincidence

Join the discussion
Ask a follow-up here, or get your own question answered by working scientists, mathematicians and engineers — people, not an autocomplete.
Real named experts · corrections over time · the nuance an AI answer skips
Sign up Log in
1 reply · 2K views
patrickd
Messages
9
Reaction score
0
Mathematics news on Phys.org
patrickd said:
... are the respective authors gnashing their teeth?
I don't know, but of the two I'd pick the first to read because the second author has embarked on the self-contradictory goal of describing a "universe in zero words" with pages and pages of words.

From the book description:
"At the same time, the book shows why these equations have something timeless to say about the universe, and how they do it with an economy (zero words) that no other form of human expression can match."

If the equations authentically represent the economy of zero words, we shouldn't need anything but those equations. In fact, though, the explanation by words is vital and the equations, themselves, are always codified sentences. F=ma doesn't mean anything until you understand it to be the sentence, "Force equals mass times acceleration".