While, on the one hand, the end of scientific…
“While, on the one hand, the end of scientific investigation is the discovery of laws, on the other, science will have reached its highest goal when it shall have reduced ultimate laws to one or two, the necessity of which lies outside the sphere of our cognition. These ultimate laws-in the domain of physical science at least-will be the dynamical laws of the relations of matter to number, space, and time. The ultimate data will be number, matter, space, and time themselves. When these relations shall be known, all physical phenomena will be a branch of pure mathematics.”
About This Quote
This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.
Science aims to reduce ultimate laws to a few fundamental principles, turning physical phenomena into pure mathematics, yet these laws may lie beyond human cognition.
In simple terms: Science seeks simple fundamental laws, turning nature into math, but they may be unknowable.
Key Takeaway
Pursue fundamental understanding while accepting limits.
Themes
science
laws
mathematics
physics
cognition
knowledge
Mood
inquisitive
reflective
Type
Branches:1
Cognition:1
Data:1
Discovery:1
Domain:1
Ends:1
Enquiry:1
Goal:1
Goals:1
Hands:1
Highest:1
Investigation:1
Known:1
Law:1
Lying:1
Mathematics:1
Matter:1
Numbers:1
Physical science:1
Pure:1
Relation:1
Science:1
Space:1
Spheres:1
Theory:1
Time and space:1
Two:1
Ultimate:1
Laws Science:1
Matter Space:1
Dynamical Laws:1
Ultimate Laws:1
Science Dynamical:1
When to use this quote
- research planning
- education curriculum
- public science communication
Key Concepts
philosophy of science
ontology
theoretical physics
Questions to Reflect On
- What are the limits of scientific knowledge?
- How can we approach unknowable truths?
A Different Perspective
Human cognition may never grasp ultimate laws.