Anyone who has ever worked in science knows the value of mathematics in trying to discover the hidden treasures of science. Sometimes the math is easy, like arithmetic.
We find that reality when we electrolyze water — breaking it down into hydrogen and oxygen, and collecting the respective gases in the two inverted test tubes over the electrodes in a beaker of water. One has exactly twice as much gas in it (by the size of the bubble in that test tube) so we can use math to measure the volume and realize the ratio of one gas to the other when water is broken down. Hence, we get the familiar H2O.
I used algebra all the time when working on my vacuum line in the laboratory — especially with the Ideal Gas Law: PV=nRT.
R was a constant, and if I knew the temperature (T) and the pressure (P) and the volume (V) of that part of the glass vacuum line, I could determine the amount (n) of the gas I was working with. It was a great way to measure materials that were too dangerous to work with otherwise — explosive when they come into contact with air or moisture.
Much more complicated types of math let scientists determine magnetic interference. With the proper kinds of measurement tools, this would allow insight into the internal structure of molecules and atoms. NMR devices in hospitals now make use of that research to aid in diagnosis and bring healing. Very complicated types of mathematical calculations give us the structure of “orbitals” around the nuclei of various elements, allowing scientists to predict the structure of unknown compounds — and show us how to combine the right other atoms with them to discover unexpected materials.
Indeed, that very complex math enabled chemists to see how one of the previously-called “inert gases” on the far-right side of the periodic table had orbitals big enough to actually react with some other elements, which were similar in electronegativity (another property measured by math), so that they could combine. As a result, those “inert gases” in the Helium column are now called “noble gases” instead. They still all have the same basic character, but math opened up some new possibilities.
More advanced types of math, like vector algebra, can show us how winds move and interact with each other. Scientists who have worked with theologians have applied that theory to explain how the Divine Persons in the most Holy Trinity interact.
Because theologians have argued about this issue, and indeed Greek and Latin theologians disagreed enough about it to cause a schism (until the Council of Florence sought to heal it in the 1440s), perhaps our advanced math can bring those two sides closer together by letting science help explain those theological hidden treasures, too.
Father Patrick Dolan is a priest of the Archdiocese of Louisville and a scientist.
