God is a pure mathematician!' declared British astronomer Sir James Jeans. The physical Universe does seem to be organised around elegant mathematical relationships. And one number above all others has exercised an enduring fascination for physicists: 137.0359991.... It is known as the fine-structure constant and is denoted by the Greek letter alpha (α).
Paul Davies
astronomy, fine-structure-constant, history-of-science, mathematician, mathematics, physicists, physics, sir-james-jeans