A few weeks ago I received a 40% off any book coupon from a particular bookstore. Like every other addicted shopper, I thought to myself; well, I just can’t pass up a deal like this. I decided to take a trip to the bookstore to see how I could use my extremely valuable coupon. I usually browse the Computer, Physics and Math sections when at the bookstore. It was there that I saw Mario Livio’s Is God a Mathematician book. I looked at and said to my self “ah, this looks interesting.” Walking to the register my wife looked at the book and said “well, you have to believe in god first before you can say whether he is a mathematician or not.” I quickly defended the book and said “when scientist speak of god they don’t normally mean what you envision as god.” She shrugged her shoulders and said “OK.”
I took the book home and read it. Livio presents an actually well written book. Anyone interested in reading about popular science, or anyone with limited mathematical background will constantly find themselves saying to themselves “I did not know that” or “Ah, that is interesting.” Other than that, you will not gain much from it.
The truth is that the book doesn’t do justice to the title. The majority of the book is nothing more than a historical account of several mathematical topics, which Livio then links to how they relate to our present day life. That is all great, but he never really goes on to say how and where does he come up with the conclusion that god is indeed or is not a mathematician.
This brings me back to what I really think is the important part on this. My wife was completely right. Before one can say anything about god, or anything else for that matter, the object, place or thing of which is referring to must be defined. Furthermore that definition must either well understood or stated. She wasn’t completely right, but she was on the right track. Before Livio can say talk about god in any sense he must define what god means. The word god can have some many different meaning to different people. What is even more frustrating is that a well respected scientist would use a catchy title in an attempt to sell books. In my opinion a more fitting title would be “Great achievements in mathematics and how they relate to everyday life.” Furthermore, under this vision, what prevents god from being a chemist, physicists or biologist?
The last thing I would like to see is scientist turning science into propaganda. Science is science, and it can never be mistaken for religion or faith. Even when they attempt to explain the universe, they are totally different practices and should not be juxtaposed.
