3.2 Relevance to Science

summary

Prior to 300 years ago, people used reasoning to explain how the world worked.
About 300 years ago, people began using mathematical equations to explain science.
Stephen Wolfram explains the implications of using simple programs instead of equations to model the natural world and examine the universe.
Wolfram offers a new way of thinking about science. For example, examining programs in the computational universe, like cellular automata, as a way to explain complexity in natural systems as opposed to natural selection.
Pigments in mollusk shells and patterns in snowflakes are two examples Wolfram provides to show the relationship between the computational universe and science.
Wolfram also explains the “paradigm shift” that is happening slowly in science, in which models that are based on programs are used to explain the natural world.
Two examples of work in the sciences that use programs are: using models to explain the way plant leaves work and using models to explain how humans visit websites on the Internet.