Shaping Mathematics as a Tool: The Search for a Mathematical Model for Quasi-crystals

Abstract

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.

OriginalsprogEngelsk
TitelMathematics as a Tool. Tracing New Roles of Mathematics in the Sciences
RedaktørerJohannes Lenhard, Martin Carrier
Antal sider22
ForlagSpringer
Publikationsdato2017
Sider69-90
DOI
StatusUdgivet - 2017
NavnBoston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science
Vol/bind327
ISSN0068-0346

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