That (1:05) certainly wasn't the first problem I saw in calculus! In fact, I don't actually remember it from either maths or physics.

Interesting talk. Eugene Wigner made a somewhat similar observation in 1959/1960 (obviously not about string theory though, just about the relationship between mathematics and the real world).

If math does turn out to be god then I'm destined for eternal flames and the universe is nothing but a cruel joke with a an even shittier punchline..

This is more narrative than fact, but it is a fun narrative; most notable the inverse square law came around 1687 and his calculus was claimed in 1666, but only published in 1696 long after the Leibniz/Newton calculus controversy had begun. Philosophy minded people always credit Leibniz with being one of the smartest people ever, and Science people with Newton and fall in line usually with how they feel about the invention of calculus and such. The facts are always a bit more complicated than simple, cause driven narrative like this, but he is pretty much known for this kind of stuff, so whatever, Ill just have fun

@oritteropo (oh ya, as an aside, if your a fan of Wigner, his pupal Alvin Weinberg was already thinking about the energy crisis back in the 50/60's, and wrote a great little diddy on it "ENERGY as an ultimate raw material, or problems of burning the sea and burning the rocks" http://energyfromthorium.com/energy-weinberg-1959/ They cut them from a different mold back then I guess.)