Equations

 After reading the book Why does E = mc^2, by Brian Cox and Jeff Foreshaw, I began questioning many things in life. I began to question if I should I peruse Mechanical engineering or physics. You see I want to work in F1 to travel the globe making fast cars and being part of "the navy seals of engineering" as James Vowels describes F1 (Williams F1 team principal). However after reading why does E = mc^2 I gained a new perspective on Physics and Maths. Early on in the book the authors established that the book is not only a book to derive and explain the physics behind why E = mc^2 with only pythagorus' theorem. It delved into how scientists think and why they seek equations. What is the purpose of equations?

I believe I have come across over 50 equations so far in my STEM career, in physics I have encountered at least 40 and probably about 10 in maths. But why? Why do we need equations? What is their purpose? Given that I've been using equations for 6+ years now you'd expect me to know the answer when this question came up in the book. I didn't. I stopped reading for a while to finally understand what the authors wanted me to think, how do scientists think. Why do scientists need equations and what is their purpose?

I took a 3 day break from not reading to figure this out...

I couldn't find the answer, it was a new perspective to physics. This was more of the philosophical side of physics, which I haven't been exposed to at all in school really. Physics in school is mostly just introducing equations to you before the teacher explains act the letters stand for.

The answer to the question "what are the purposes of equations?" is to do a practical without needing to do it. You only need to get 2 or 3 measurements and do a bit of rearranging to get the required quantity you need. For example you can use the speed = distance/ time to get your speed, merely measure a distance and time how long it takes to travel the distance and there you have your average speed. That is the essence of equations! We need equations to get results of a practical, we may not have the facilities to carry out, hence why scientists seek equations.