And given the number of times that further formalizing a field has paid off in the physical sciences, this doesn’t at all convince me that “overmathematizing” is a general problem.
In the case of quantum mechanics, the additional formalizing did certainly pay off. But the formalizing was done after the messy first version of the theory made several amazingly accurate predictions.
In the case of quantum mechanics, the additional formalizing did certainly pay off. But the formalizing was done after the messy first version of the theory made several amazingly accurate predictions.