The Agonist: Between Culture and Nature on Planet Earth
The reason Epi-cycles lasted for 1500 years was because it was far easier to add a patch whenever an anomaly came up, than to go back and rethink the entire theory. Now we have dark matter and energy. Math has to deal with the very fact that its precision can also be a weakness, if factors are overlooked. Just look at the physics PhD's who went to Wall St. and created enormous securities bubbles because they didn't consider the pedestrian element of declining house prices.
The trouble happens when you take the models and ignore the limitations because you damn well want to.
