13 episodes

Audio files from the project Being a Professional Mathematician, which produced worksheets and other resources for the undergraduate mathematics curriculum. www.beingamathematician.org

Being a Professional Mathematician Tony Mann and Chris Good

    • Science

Audio files from the project Being a Professional Mathematician, which produced worksheets and other resources for the undergraduate mathematics curriculum. www.beingamathematician.org

    Danny Brown: How about physically making something?

    Danny Brown: How about physically making something?

    Danny Brown is a mathematics teacher at Thomas Tallis School in Greenwich.
    He talks about:
    is he a "mathematician"? (at time 0:21)
    support and professional networks (1:32)
    the value of social media (2:38)
    Twitter (3:09)
    his mathematics website (4:01)
    obstacles to his career (5:24)
    role models (5:37)
    More information, worksheets and other resources for the undergraduate mathematics curriculum: www.beingamathematician.org

    • 8 min
    Emilie du Chatelet: "A normal woman and a good scientist"

    Emilie du Chatelet: "A normal woman and a good scientist"

    Patricia Fara, historian of science at the University of Cambridge, talks about Emilie du Chatelet (1706 - 1749), mathematician, translator and populariser of Newton's work in France. We learn about:
    du Chatelet's background and education (time 0:28)
    her interest in Newtonian ideas (0:52)
    her relationship with Voltaire (1:32)
    her attitude to life and science (2:11)
    the book Elements of the Philosophy of Newton (2:49)
    her translation of Newton's Principia (4:19)
    what was behind du Chatelet's achievement (6:11)
    her context: differences between French and English society in her time (6:51)
    a parallel with Mary Somerville (8:15)
    du Chatelet as a woman in science (9:42)
    More information, worksheets and other resources for the undergraduate mathematics curriculum: www.beingamathematician.org

    • 10 min
    Florence Nightingale: "What use were mathematics to a married woman?"

    Florence Nightingale: "What use were mathematics to a married woman?"

    Noel-Ann Bradshaw talks about Florence Nightingale (1820 - 1910), the first woman to be elected a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society. We learn about:

    what you may not know about Florence Nightingale (time 0:21)
    her early interest in mathematics and her parents' disapproval ( 0:49)
    her early career and views on education (1:38)
    the Crimean War (2:36)
    her Polar Area Diagrams (3:34)
    Nightingale's impact (4:06)
    her work back in England (4:52)
    Nightingale as statistician (5:32)

    More information, worksheets and other resources for the undergraduate mathematics curriculum: www.beingamathematician.org

    • 6 min
    Gwyneth Stallard: "That moment when suddenly things fit together"

    Gwyneth Stallard: "That moment when suddenly things fit together"

    Gwyneth Stallard is Professor of Pure Mathematics at the Open University. She talks about

    defining her profession (at time 0:29)
    teaching at the Open University (0:44)
    research in pure mathematics (1:40)
    the characteristics of a mathematician (5:42)
    the value of collaboration (7:28)
    the support a research mathematician needs (9:26)
    how work is disseminated (11:41)
    the difficulties she has overcome, in finding a job after completing her PhD (13:17)
    and in returning to research after maternity leave (15:14)
    women in mathematics (16:54)

    More information, worksheets and other resources for the undergraduate mathematics curriculum: www.beingamathematician.org

    • 19 min
    Hugh Everett III: Many Worlds of Mathematics

    Hugh Everett III: Many Worlds of Mathematics

    Tony Mann talks about the career of Hugh Everett III (1930 - 1982), famous for his "Many Worlds" interpretation of quantum theory. He talks about:

    introduction to Everett's career (time 0:10)
    Everett's work in Quantum Theory (0:43)
    Game Theory and Operations Research (2:13)
    consultancy (3:12)
    belated interest in Everett's ideas on Quantum Theory (3:30)
    Everett's death (4:01)
    summary of his career (4:25)

    More information, worksheets and other resources for the undergraduate mathematics curriculum: www.beingamathematician.org

    • 5 min
    James Joseph Sylvester (1814 - 1897): "An outsider breaking into the established societal norms"

    James Joseph Sylvester (1814 - 1897): "An outsider breaking into the established societal norms"

    Karen Parshall talks about the nineteenth-century mathematician James Joseph Sylvester. We learn about:

    Sylvester's family background and Jewish heritage (at time 0:27)
    being a Jew in Victorian Britain (1:21)
    his mathematical education (1:57)
    further impact of his Jewishness (2:37)
    a Jew at Cambridge (3:13)
    his first publications (4:24)
    progressing his career, and facing obstacles (5:25)
    end of his first stay in the USA (6:51)
    back in London: a job as actuary, and research progress (7:21)
    "creating his own mathematical community" (8:41)
    his friendship with Cayley (8:58)
    Invariant Theory (9:41)
    taking a degree in law (10:19)
    back to Academia as Professor of Mathematics at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich (10:41)
    defining the "professional mathematician" (11:11)
    Sylvester at Woolwich (11:42)
    enforced retirement, establishing an international reputation (12:30)
    flourishing back in America as a research professor (13:37)
    return to England and the Savilian Chair at Oxford (15:46)

    More information, worksheets and other resources for the undergraduate mathematics curriculum: www.beingamathematician.org

    • 17 min

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