The Universe Speaks in Numbers: How Modern Maths Reveals Nature's Deepest Secrets

A groundbreaking study of how physics and mathematics have enriched our understanding of the universe, this is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand how, in Stephen Hawking’s words, physicists are trying to “know the mind of God.”
In their search for the fundamental laws of the universe, physicists are developing ambitious mathematical ideas. But are they now working in the realm of “fairytale physics” without observation or experiment, as their detractors claim?
In The Universe Speaks in Numbers, Graham Farmelo argues that today’s greatest scientific minds work in a tradition that dates back to Newton. He takes readers on a journey from the Enlightenment through the breakthroughs of Einstein and Dirac to the work of modern physicists and mathematicians who are shedding light on each other’s disciplines—to their mutual amazement and admiration. These relationships are responsible for enormous advances in our understanding of space and time and, as Farmelo explains, can lead to a rethinking of reality as we know it.