相关论文: Michel Henon, a playfull and simplifying mind

Why is the universe comprehensible? How is it that we can come to know its regularities well-enough to exploit them for our own gain? In this essay I argue that the nature of our comprehension lies in the mutually agreed upon methodology we…

Modern science developed within a culture of Judeo-Christian theism, and science and theism have generally supported each other. However, there are certainly areas in both science and religion that puzzle me. Here I outline some puzzles…

This very short paper presents a novel approach to Euler's formula without presupposing it. The paper reclaims the rightful place of the formula at the heart of calculus.

Einstein was in many ways like a detective on a mystery trail, though in his case he was on the trail of nature's mysteries and not some murder mystery! And like all good detectives he had a style. It consisted of taking facts that he knew…

Paper: cond-mat/9311033 The Hubbard model of interacting electrons, like the Ising model of spin-spin interactions, is the simplest possible model displaying many ``real world'' features, but it is much more difficult to analyze…

The Middle Ages focused obsessively on the old; our era is totally absorbed with the new. In medio stat virtus. In this short note, I advocate a strategy that blends copyright and copyleft for disseminating research results in the sciences.…

I review aspects of Michael Atiyah's research in fundamental theoretical physics during the last ten years of his life, and contrast his deliberate interest in physics during this period with the inadvertent impact on physics of his early…

The selection process of proposals is a crucial component of scientific progress and innovations. Limited resources must be allocated in the most effective way to maximise advancements and the production of new knowledge, especially as it…

For most writers the science is either an exotic setting or a source of thrilling conflict that would drive the story forward. For a communicator it is the other way around - the science is neatly wrapped in a package of literary tools that…

"Encoded in the large, highly evolved sensory and motor portions of the human brain is a billion years of experience about the nature of the world and how to survive in it. The deliberate process we call reasoning is, I believe, the…

Mathematicians judge proofs to possess, or lack, a variety of different qualities, including, for example, explanatory power, depth, purity, beauty and fit. Philosophers of mathematical practice have begun to investigate the nature of such…

The 75th anniversary of Turing's seminal paper and his centennial year anniversary occur in 2011 and 2012, respectively. It is natural to review and assess Turing's contributions in diverse fields in the light of new developments that his…

Mathematics is changing. Computers are verifying proofs, checking calculations, and exploring complex structures that would overwhelm human effort. Yet curiosity-driven research is where tomorrow's breakthroughs are quietly prepared. In…

Every scientific endeavour consists of (at least) two components: A hypothesis on the one hand and data on the other. There is always a more or less abstract level - some theory, a set of concepts, certain relations of ideas - and a…

This paper presents yet another personal reflection on one the most important concepts in both science and the humanities: time. This elusive notion has been not only bothering philosophers since Plato and Aristotle. It goes throughout…

Aristotelian assertoric syllogistic, which is currently of growing interest, has attracted the attention of the founders of modern logic, who approached it in several (semantical and syntactical) ways. Further approaches were introduced…

We review the discovery of the neutrino and outline the history of neutrino physics. Many interesting phenomena involving the neutrino are exhibited. We also discuss the long-standing solar neutrino puzzle and the properties of the neutrino…

We consider Einstein's attitude with regard to religion both from sociological and epistemological points of view. An attempt to put it into a wider socio-historical perspective has been made, with the emphasis on his ethnic and religious…

This paper examines various methods and ideas for humanizing mathematics. The term 'humanizing mathematics' which includes elements of 'aesthetic mathematics' refers to approaches that emphasize the aesthetic, philosophical, and subjective…

This paper shares some experience in advanced mathematical education. We show how a high school student can be naturally and gradually introduced to basic steps of scientific research: developing intuition by finding and correcting mistakes…