Class content >Modeling with mathematics
The fact that we are using math in science as a model of the physical world (and not just as a set of numbers to be manipulated) changes a lot. It makes the math carry meaning in a way it typically did not in a math course. It makes our equations a lot "richer" (i.e., "more complicated to interpret") than they are in math. Making our equations "physical" (as opposed to pure math) gives us some very powerful tools, such as dimensional analysis, scaling, and estimation, that will allow us to use our math more effectively.
Here are links to discussions of some of the most important issues.
Joe Redish 7/5/11
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