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2004 : WHAT'S YOUR LAW? [1]

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[6]
Gino Segre [6]
Professor of Physics & Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania; Author, Ordinary Geniuses
Segre’s Law

Segre’s First Law

Numbers are everything.

This is just a rephrasing of the Pythagorean credo, proclaimed 2500 years ago, that “All things are numbers”. Science began with it, but it’s still worth remembering that measurements are at the base of all science.

Segre’s Second Law

Understand what the numbers mean.

One has to keep looking for a theory that will explain the numbers. Our galaxy has a hundred billion stars and our brain has a hundred billion neurons. Understanding our galaxy and our brain are great challenges, but two different theories are required.

Links:
[1] http://edge.org/annual-question/whats-your-law
[2] http://edge.org/inthenews/whats-your-law
[3] http://edge.org/contributors/whats-your-law
[4] http://edge.org/responses/whats-your-law
[5] http://edge.org/print/response-detail/10381
[6] http://edge.org/memberbio/gino_segre