TY - CHAP
T1 - Shaping Mathematics as a Tool
T2 - The Search for a Mathematical Model for Quasi-crystals
AU - Sørensen, Henrik Kragh
PY - 2017
Y1 - 2017
N2 - Although the use of mathematical models is ubiquitous in modern science, the involvement of mathematical modeling in the sciences is rarely seen as cases of interdisciplinary research. Often, mathematics is “applied” in the sciences, but mathematics also features in open-ended, truly interdisciplinary collaborations. The present paper addresses the role of mathematical models in the open-ended process of conceptualizing new phenomena. It does so by suggesting a notion of cultures of mathematization, stressing the potential role of the mathematical model as a boundary object around which negotiations of different desiderata can take place. This framework is then illustrated by a case study of the early efforts to produce a mathematical model for quasi-crystals in the first two decades after Dan Shechtman’s discovery of this new phenomenon in 1984.
AB - Although the use of mathematical models is ubiquitous in modern science, the involvement of mathematical modeling in the sciences is rarely seen as cases of interdisciplinary research. Often, mathematics is “applied” in the sciences, but mathematics also features in open-ended, truly interdisciplinary collaborations. The present paper addresses the role of mathematical models in the open-ended process of conceptualizing new phenomena. It does so by suggesting a notion of cultures of mathematization, stressing the potential role of the mathematical model as a boundary object around which negotiations of different desiderata can take place. This framework is then illustrated by a case study of the early efforts to produce a mathematical model for quasi-crystals in the first two decades after Dan Shechtman’s discovery of this new phenomenon in 1984.
U2 - 10.1007/978-3-319-54469-4_5
DO - 10.1007/978-3-319-54469-4_5
M3 - Book chapter
T3 - Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science
SP - 69
EP - 90
BT - Mathematics as a Tool. Tracing New Roles of Mathematics in the Sciences
A2 - Lenhard, Johannes
A2 - Carrier, Martin
PB - Springer
ER -