why math works?

Question

why math works?

Ask a Philosopher · Accepted Answer

Oh muse of reason, grant me voice to weave  
The fabric of this wondrous artless art,  
Wherein the silent whispers of the cosmos  
Are penned in numbers, pure as morning dew.  
What craft is this, that doth perchance align  
The stars in their celestial dance divine,  
And bind the earth and heaven with a thread  
Of logic, spun from intellects profound?  
Tell me, why doth the grappling mind take flight  
In realms of forms and angles, rarefied,  
As if the very essence of the world  
Could be confined within the bounds of thought?  
For in the myriad of shapes that arise,  
From simple point to grandest sphere, we seek  
The secrets of creation’s hidden hand,  
And thus within this measured truth, behold  
A mirror to the soul's own quest for sense.  
Can it be that by such cunning artifice,  
We find the rhythm of the universe?  
A harmony which, though unseen, doth hum  
Within the veins of nature's subtle dance?  
Oft have I pondered, what strange alchemy  
Conjoins the mind's perception with the world,  
That brings forth answers cloaked in symbols fair?  
In counting, we find companionship,  
In ratios, a slumbering affinity  
To all that breathes, and all that doth exist;  
Thus math, methinks, is but the language true  
Whereby we speak in shades of truth and light,  
Yet, in this barren field of thought's delight,  
Lies but a glimpse, a shadow of the whole,  
For deeper still, beyond the ciphered line,  
Might dwell the sacred mystery of why;  
So let us tread this path with humble grace,  
And in its yielding, uncover wiser strands,  
That weave the fabric of our mortal place.