I can’t seem to wrap my head around the fact that math is invented? Maybe he came up with the symbols of integration and derivation, but these are phenomena, no? We’re just representing it in a “language” that makes sense. I’ve also heard people say that we may need “new math” to discover/explain new phenomena. What does that mean?
Edit: Thank you for all the responses. Making so much more sense now!
In: Mathematics
Think about tools for a second. With the right tool you can reduce the time taken to do something or multiply your effort or both.
For example, you can use a small blade to cut grass little by little or use a specialized tool like a scythe to do it much faster with less effort.
If you want to join 2 things in such a way that you can unfasten them easily, you use a specialized tool like nuts and bolts.
Newton was trying to solve a problem. He was trying to figure out why an apple would fall from a tree but something much more massive like the moon wouldn’t fall from the sky. (It’s the 1600s people didn’t understand much and were asking questions)
What Newton did is that he invented mathematical tools i.e. Calculus to help him solve this problem.
Calculus ,like any other tool, when used in a certain way (rules like when and how) would let you solve complex problems by breaking them down into small chunks. That’s what calculus is – a mathematical tool.
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