Abstraction Quote by Hilary Putnam
“The physicist who states a law of nature with the aid of a mathematical formula is abstracting a real feature of a real material world, even if he has to speak of numbers, vectors, tensors, state-functions, or whatever to make the abstraction.”
About This Quote
Source Book: Philosophy of Science, 1975
Mathematical formulas abstract real-world features, even if they use complex symbols.
In simple terms: Formulas simplify reality using math.
Key Takeaway
Use math to model but stay grounded.
Themes
science
philosophy
abstraction
Mood
thoughtful
inquisitive
academic
Type
theoretical
educational
When to use this quote
- research papers
- engineering design
- educational curricula
Key Concepts
mathematics
ontology
modeling
Questions to Reflect On
- How do models limit understanding?
- What is lost in abstraction?
A Different Perspective
Abstractions can miss nuances of lived experience.
![“I'd say that [Louis] Brandeis practiced a kind of a "living originalism," to use the title of Jack Balkin's great book. He said you start with the paradigm case, which in the case of the Fourth Amendment was these general warrants or writs of assistance, but you define it at a level of abstraction…” quote by Jeffrey Rosen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/aeb/jeffrey-rosen-13180_abstraction_i-d-say-that-louis-brandeis-practiced-a_73138.jpg)
