8 Summary of Week 7

At first glance, infinity seems like an esoteric and impractical subject. But as it turns out, thoughts of infinity gave rise to calculus, which is applicable in every physical science.

Many of the concepts in this course are counter-intuitive and hard to visualise. They show that mathematics will always be a key tool in understanding such mind-bending ideas. Our brains may have evolved to deal with the ‘here and now’ and the finite, but mathematics can be used to prove notions that we might otherwise struggle to accept or comprehend, like which infinities are the same, and which are bigger than others.

In the final week of the course you will look at the history and future of mathematics, before bringing together what you’ve learned about the limits of scientific knowledge.

You can now move on to Week 8 [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] .