A Universe of Numbers

 

There is geometry in the humming of the strings, there is music in the spacing of the spheres.

Pythagoras

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One of the things that inspires me is math and physics. When I was younger I loved to learn and gravitated towards physics in high school. I used to hate math until I fell in love with its beauty in college.

At first I hated doing proofs, until I turned them into a game. I knew what answer was. It was getting there that was the challenge. I struggled but also found I enjoyed the process. The world seemed to slip away and it was just me and the numbers.

I spent hours studying and working extra problems at the end of the chapter to get the concepts down. While some of it was boring I discovered the beauty and simplicity of numbers had a calming affect on me.

I found myself slowing down to prolong assignments so I could continue to enjoy the serenity of it all. As I gained more proficiency my proofs because more efficient and elegant. What used to take entire pages, only took a few lines.

When I took calculus I discovered I could do most problems in my head, though it was simple addition and subtraction that tripped me up. Integration by parts was a head ache but I mastered it after long hours of study.

Calculus gave me a deeper understanding of how to think and a greater appreciation for the things you’re capable of if you challenge yourself. I find myself longing to crack open my old math books and see if I still have it.

When I look out into the world, among the chaos I see order and reason in the laws of physics that govern us. That the ever changing tide of events can be reduced to equations, rather than being cold or clinical I find great joy and comfort in this knowledge.

The laws governing the heavens equally apply to us. The beauty of numbers is beyond measure, for they link us and the rest of the universe. We are the children of stars and once we die our atoms will return whence they came, and the great cosmic dance will continue.