The Reduct Blog, Volume 1: Introduction to Reduction
Ever wondered how scientific theories can describe the world so accurately?
How can mathematical formulas, written on blackboards, predict things in the real world?
No, scientists and mathematicians are not always correct.
But when they are, they show the incredible power of science and mathematics.
Can an ordinary person ever understand these things?
Or do you have to be a “genius”?
Someone with a sneak peak at a grand plan from the great beyond?
No!
As an ordinary person who has applied themselves to these subjects for many years, I can confidently say: YES!
Yes, you can understand mathematics and science:
- where they come from,
- how they are done, and
- how they know what they know.
And this book will show you how!
And how will it do this?
Through the process of “reduction”.
A process where we trace back the abstract concepts of mathematics and science.
Trace them back to their origins in the real world—the world we know from everyday life.
I firmly believe that all these abstract concepts are ultimately derived from the everyday world. And are therefore understandable to us all, at least in principle.
This eBook contains nearly 100 pages of content, taking four articles from the Reduct blog, adding a preface and introduction, and carefully typesetting them all for ease of reading and printing.
This first volume of content gives a full introduction to reduction, describing how it relates to abstraction, and showing its power in explaining things like scientific prediction and the concept of number. The articles included are:
- What is Abstraction?
- What is Reduction?
- Science, Mathematics and the Modeling Relation
- What is a Number?
No, you won’t understand everything after reading it, but it will show you how to tackle abstract topics, how to make sense of the work of scientists and mathematicians—rather than just having to take their word for things.
Each of the articles in this volume takes me anywhere between 75–100 hours to prepare (not that I am complaining, I love writing them) and your support means a lot!
I see this eBook partly as a test: is there an audience for these ideas, and will people find them worth parting with their hard-earned money for?
I’m confident these ideas are worth sharing, and that you will find them invaluable in making sense of scientific and mathematical concepts.
So, if you want to see the power of reduction for yourself, and start to understand mathematics and science, get this eBook!
Start to understand mathematics and science at a fundamental level! With nearly 100 pages of content, this eBook gives a complete introduction to the process of reduction: four articles from the Reduct blog, a preface and introduction to the key concepts are included. All carefully typeset and arranged for ease of reading and printing. Your support is greatly appreciated!