As Albert Einstein says, 'The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science.'
Science is more than a way to make sense of the material world. It is a way of living, a way of constructing a narrative that places us at the center of things. Not, of course, physically. After all, we now know that we live in an expanding universe, far from the center of one among billions of other galaxies out there.
As our worldview changed in the past few hundred years-think that Columbus sailed the world convinced that the Earth rested quietly at the center of the cosmos-we changed with it. Science is the product of the civilization and culture in which it is developed and, in its turn, helps define that culture. It walks along paths created by others and opens paths on which others can walk.
Science is a very human creation, the product of the same curiosity that has moved our collective imagination for thousands of years. It is an expression of our deeply-ingrained desire to make sense of the world and to know our place in the big scheme of things. Which brings me to this blog.
What a wonderful opportunity to share and exchange ideas on aspects of mathematics, physics, genetics, all-things-science, education and learning, and to invite you all to blend in this conversation. My intention is to nurture a space of contemplation and inspiration, because science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality!
Science is in dire need of a new tune; a voice that presents it for what it is, a very human construction that has its roots in the same age-old questions that haunted our ancestors for millennia. We are all in this together, and our doubts and fears are more universal than we think. As is our ability to wonder...
The act of crafting these innuendos, of engaging with complex ideas, has given me a rare opportunity to deepen my own ways of thinking about mathematics and the world as is. It has also given me a deeper sense of my purpose as a mathematician and facilitator of learning. The Internet opens the classroom to the whole world.
And, just as I do in my classes, I teach and I listen, as I learn from my students and their world-views. As we learn from nature and its grand cycles of creation and destruction that extend from atoms to life to galaxies, from the old comes the new, reenergized. We carry this cosmic imprint within us - and the world needs to know.