One of the great mysteries is the meaning of the miraculous correspondence between mathematical concepts and the structure of the universe and the laws of nature. As the physicist James Jeans put it: “The universe seems to have been shaped by a pure mathematician.” Mathematics is used in all areas of life, from the natural sciences and physics to economics, social statistics, computer science, and sociology.
How is it possible that mathematics, seemingly created by human thought, fits so perfectly into physical reality? Is mathematics a human creation, or a discovery of an existing reality that underlies the universe?