18.S996 | Spring 2013 | Graduate

Category Theory for Scientists

Course Description

The goal of this class is to prove that category theory is a powerful language for understanding and formalizing common scientific models. The power of the language will be tested by its ability to penetrate into taken-for-granted ideas, either by exposing existing weaknesses or flaws in our understanding, or by …
The goal of this class is to prove that category theory is a powerful language for understanding and formalizing common scientific models. The power of the language will be tested by its ability to penetrate into taken-for-granted ideas, either by exposing existing weaknesses or flaws in our understanding, or by highlighting hidden commonalities across scientific fields.
Learning Resource Types
Instructor Insights
Open Textbooks
Projects with Examples
Student Work
A diagram with various thoughts written on shapes connected by arrows.
An example of an olog—an abstract means for categorizing the general properties of a system. In this example, the olog provides a conceptual understanding of the system of seat pricing on an airline. (Image by MIT OpenCourseWare.)