Does Mathematics Describe How The Way The Universe Works?

In the world today, it is often easy to get caught up in the idea that mathematics decides the way all of nature works. The very language that people often use to describe mathematical patterns exudes a certainty that “we have it all figured out.” In ancient times, Pythagoras held that “All is number” (qtd. in Tallis). This idea continues today in an extreme form with thinkers like Max Tegmark who holds that the universe is composed of numbers and humans are merely characters in the mathematical simulation (qtd. in Tallis). But (even if one does not hold to quite so extreme a view) does mathematics describe the way the universe works? When one considers the issue in depth it seems extremely hard to be quite so confident. There are gaps in the current knowledge of physical science and issues surrounding the nature of the universe that ought to make people think twice

This is simply not true of modern physics. While it is easy to select a handful of examples in nature that seem to generally follow a mathematical pattern, the fact remains that there is no such pattern for universe as a whole. This is most clearly seen by the incompatibility of Einstein’s Theory of Relativity with Quantum Theory. As science journalist Corey S. Powell explains, the Theory of Relativity’s mathematical equations do an excellent job describing the very big things like gravity and the movement of planets. Quantum Theory does an excellent job at describing very small things like the workings of a radioactive particle. However, he writes, “Relativity gives nonsensical answers when you try to scale it down to quantum size, eventually descending to infinite values in its description of gravity. Likewise, quantum mechanics runs into serious trouble when you blow it up to cosmic dimensions”