In short, basic arithmetic gradually evolved into deeper philosophical concepts, such as the exploration of true and false through Boolean logic, as seen in Plato’s ideas, and the Pythagorean contributions to mathematics. This was followed by Euclid’s proof of irrational numbers, the Babylonians’ predictions of astronomical events, and the development of fractals, polynomials, and calculus – all of which laid the foundation for major theories like special and general relativity. Today, these foundations continue to shape fields like string theory and our current understanding of the universe’s origins.

Remarkably, we can describe the very fundamentals of the universe using nothing more than pen and paper. Something so abstract can be grasped right under our noses. Yet many people still ask: Why mathematics? Why formulas? Why such precise and rigorous calculations in a language humans appear to have invented?

The answer lies in viewing mathematics not as an invention, but as a discovery. While we certainly invented the symbols – the shapes of Arabic numerals, or the choice of using ‘x’ and ‘y’, what those symbols describe and manifest are laws we uncover, not create. These laws govern the universe regardless of the symbols we assign, revealing a reality that was always there, waiting to be found.

Why is it that when Einstein wrote down E = mc², it turned out to describe something real but also described it correctly? It remains one of the most profound and respected results in modern physics. Or how did Galileo’s laws of motion and Kepler’s laws of planetary motion get combined by Isaac Newton in his revolutionary understanding of gravity? These are valid questions to ask, but they’re not easy to answer.

Mathematics, it seems, is more difficult to avoid than to find. From the parabola of a dolphin’s porpoise to exponential growth in nature, from gravitational forces to elliptical orbits, and from the geometry of geographic features to the quantum behaviour of electrons, mathematics appears everywhere. Constants like π, states of matter and the laws of motion all point toward a universal language that ties the universe together. Maths doesn’t just describe nature, it becomes the most natural way to understand it. Mathematics is nature.

When we want to study the universes quirks and traits, the most natural starting point is with maths.  We make observations, try to explain them in a way that falls in line with previous equations and laws and test to see if these observations are consistent. From the orbits of the planets around stars to the shape and size of galaxies, maths gives us a solid method to model and understand how things form in the universe, how fast that can happen, what everything is made from and how we all got here. Just as an equation can be formed, it can be undone to unravel and expose information about our universe that we would never be able to understand otherwise.

But why did the universe choose mathematics as its language? This question might seem impossibly deep, but the answer could be more intuitive than it appears. At a basic level, we know that actions have consequences, what you do today influences what happens tomorrow. We know that time moves in one direction. And we know that events in the universe aren’t purely random: an asteroid won’t suddenly appear out of nowhere, nor will the sun spontaneously implode in the next five minutes.

This predictable timeline, a cause-and-effect relationship woven into reality, implies an underlying structure, a set of rules that enforce consistency and stability. Mathematics, with its precision, logic, and consistency, is the best tool we have to describe that structure. It’s not that the universe consciously chose math; it’s that math is the natural language of patterns, relationships, and systems. These are things which the universe happens to be full of.

This might seem abstract, but let’s consider a famous example: Einstein’s field equations. Even if we don’t fully understand the symbols or the mathematics, the principle behind them is profound.

On the left-hand side of the equation, we find the geometry of spacetime itself – how it curves and bends. On the right-hand side, we find matter and energy – what fills the universe. The equation tells us that these two things are not separate: matter shapes spacetime, and spacetime tells matter how to move. Even if the math feels distant, the relationship it describes is deeply real, and a powerful reminder of how closely mathematics and the fabric of reality are intertwined.

Despite thousands of years involving proving 2+2=4, understanding geometry and trigonometry, we have finally reached a point where these operations stand to us in describing and understanding the space around us. One thing which is a mathematical certainty is uncertainty. There are things which will never be 100% understood. While in 4,000 years we have mathematically advanced from tally marks and basic counting to space travel, we cannot predict what we will know in 4,000 years but we can know for sure that maths will in some way be related. While it may seem like a major intellectual advancement to have discovered maths in the first place, when you look around you realise it was unavoidable as it has been there since the beginning. Next time you are in school wondering “why do I have to learn this? I’ll never need this!”, think that in 4,000 years, maybe, just maybe, we will have preschool children solving Einsteins trivial field equations.