Math vs. Physics (from Trigonometry Question!!!)

topsquark said:
Well, the nice thing is that I'm a Quantum Physicist so if I sit exactly in the corner I don't know how fast I'm going and usually wind up away from the corner the next moment!

-Dan
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Physicists always cheat. With your friction pulleys and other nonsense. Mathematicians are all pure and innocent.
 
topsquark said:
Don't forget ideal strings, ideal springs, ideal gases, and spherical horses.

-Dan
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I never heard of Spherical Horses.
I studied physics using the classic Halliday and Resnick book (GREAT book).
Now I was a math major. I understood that you prove everything!
1st chapter in H-D they state a fact that they claim is usually true.
Then they stated another theorem and proved this one! But they proved this theorem using the (unproved) theorem before this. I thought hey this is not right!
But after that they did not do that silliness anymore. Starting off a book like that (and a classic one at that) really left a bad taste in my mouth.
To be honest, I do love Physics but I loved math much more.
 
Jomo said:
I never heard of Spherical Horses.
I studied physics using the classic Halliday and Resnick book (GREAT book).
Now I was a math major. I understood that you prove everything!
1st chapter in H-D they state a fact that they claim is usually true.
Then they stated another theorem and proved this one! But they proved this theorem using the (unproved) theorem before this. I thought hey this is not right!
But after that they did not do that silliness anymore. Starting off a book like that (and a classic one at that) really left a bad taste in my mouth.
To be honest, I do love Physics but I loved math much more.
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Jomo,

There are fundamental laws of Physics that cannot be proven - such as Newton's laws. Then those are used as definitions and measures. The first law defines FORCE and the second law gives you a method to measure force. Similar story about laws of thermodynamics - no proof but makes sense and no-body has shown violation in Macro scale.
 
Subhotosh Khan said:
Jomo,

There are fundamental laws of Physics that cannot be proven - such as Newton's laws. Then those are used as definitions and measures. The first law defines FORCE and the second law gives you a method to measure force. Similar story about laws of thermodynamics - no proof but makes sense and no-body has shown violation in Macro scale.
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If I did not respect Physics and physicists as much as I do I would call physics junk science.

You will like, probably love, my definition of Physics--There is the study of Biology and Chemistry. Physics is the study of everything else.
 
Jomo said:
If I did not respect Physics and physicists as much as I do I would call physics junk science.

You will like, probably love, my definition of Physics--There is the study of Biology and Chemistry. Physics is the study of everything else.
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Oh - but that everything else includes Mathematics....
 
Once in a differential equations course, I had a problem involving boiling an egg. Since my mind that day just didn't go to "spherical harmonics" I assumed an infinitely long cylindrical egg and solved it using Fourier series. The instructor gave me partial credit!
 
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