Elegant

mathematicians can create a perfect world, but it is imaginary.

They use English words like “beautiful” and “elegant” to describe the most pleasingly simple and ingenious proofs of theorems. Numbers are the most precise language we have to explain how the universe works.

But did you know a perfect circle only exists in the beautiful mind of a mathematician? In the real world, there is no such thing. For a circle to be perfect, all of the points on its circumference must be exactly the same distance from the center; right down to the level of cells and particles. Atoms are not stationary; they are in motion. Real circles are always undulating and wonky.

The sun is not a perfect circle, nor is Earth. Neither is a wedding band. The only place we find such precision is in the abstract world of mathematics, where infinitely-thin lines can exist without vibration. 

Maybe it’s not so much that perfection doesn’t exist, but that not even our most precise and trusted language for deciphering the nature of the cosmos (mathematics) can create a formula elegant enough to describe what it really is. The search continues. The mystery remains.