Math! Science! History!

Gabrielle Birchak
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  • MATHEMATICS

Math! Science! History! is about the history of people, theories, and discoveries that have moved our scientific progress forward and spurred us on to unimaginable discoveries. Join Gabrielle Birchak for a little math, a little science, and a little history. All in a little bit of time.

  1. FLASHCARDS! More than 24 Hours in a Day

    1D AGO

    FLASHCARDS! More than 24 Hours in a Day

    Trains, telegraphs, and global trade turned local solar time into a worldwide system, yet the story didn’t stop at 24 neat slices. In this Flashcards! episode, we explore why there are more than 24 time zones, how half-hour and 45-minute offsets came to be, how the International Date Line adds extra zones, why the North Pole has no official time, and how you’d pick a clock for a polar meeting (with a nod to Nunavut coffee culture near the top of the world). G.M.T.- Great Mini Takeaways Prime Time: Why the “24-zone” model grew to include half-hour and 45-minute offsets. Date Line Design: How zigzags in the Pacific create “tomorrow” (and even UTC+14). Polar Protocol: No time zone at the North Pole, so teams pick one and sync. Links & Resources What is Greenwich Mean Time?  Royal Museums Greenwich. Royal Museums Greenwich The International Date Line explained. Timeanddate.com. Time and Date Time in Kiribati (GILT/PHOT/LINT; includes UTC+14) Overview. Time and Date Samoa’s 2011 “skipped day” (time-zone shift) Wired magazine. WIRED Alert, Nunavut (northernmost continuously inhabited place) Background. Wikipedia Tim Hortons locations in Nunavut (Iqaluit listings) Official directory. locations.timhortons.ca (Note: You’ll hear a shout-out to coffee “near the top of the world” in Nunavut; official Tim Hortons locations are listed for Iqaluit. Alert is the northernmost inhabited place, but it’s a military station without a public Tim’s listing.) (OTHER NOTE! Collaborate with us! Add to our Nerd Party Playlist!  https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7hIpM6G5lrW2HzksRb3BhH?si=PHH1lWf7QnaDXhyFQ6pKAg&pt=e10662069c4799e2452cbb99b070546a&pi=yLQAM-wwRz2ev) 🔗 Explore more on our website: mathsciencehistory.com 📚 To buy my book Hypatia: The Sum of Her Life on Amazon, visit https://a.co/d/g3OuP9h  🌍 Let’s Connect! Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/mathsciencehistory.bsky.social Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/math.science.history Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mathsciencehistory  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/math-science-history/  Threads: https://www.threads.com/@math.science.history  YouTube: Math! Science! History! - YouTube Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/mathsciencehistory  🎧 Enjoying the Podcast? If you love Math, Science, History, here’s how you can help: 🌟 Leave a review! It helps more people discover the show! 📢 Share this episode with friends & fellow history buffs! 🔔 Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform ☕ Support the Show: Coffee!! PayPal 🛍 Check out our merch: https://www.mathsciencehistory.com/the-store 🎵 Music: All music is public domain and has no Copyright and no rights reserved. Selections from The Little Prince by Lloyd Rodgers Until next time, carpe diem!

    11 min
  2. The History of Time: From Sundials to Atomic Clocks

    4D AGO

    The History of Time: From Sundials to Atomic Clocks

    Time feels natural, but the way we measure it is entirely human-made. From Mesopotamian star charts and Egyptian solar calendars to Roman reforms, medieval clock towers, and modern atomic precision, this episode explores how we constructed the framework of time itself. 3 Timeless Takeaways: How ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt laid the foundations for calendars and timekeeping. Why the Babylonians chose base-60 and how it still shapes our clocks today. How mechanical clocks, trains, and atomic physics transformed time into the precise system we live by. Resources & Links Mentioned: More on the Sexagesimal System: My eponymic contribution to Sexagesimal math - Math! Science! History!™ Leap Year, Caesar’s Propaganda, and a New Calendar: Leap Year, Caesar's propaganda, and a new calendar - Math! Science! History!™ National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) on Atomic Time: https://www.nist.gov/pml/time-and-frequency-division 🔗 Explore more on our website: mathsciencehistory.com 📚 To buy my book Hypatia: The Sum of Her Life on Amazon, visit https://a.co/d/g3OuP9h 🌍 Let’s Connect! Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/mathsciencehistory.bsky.social Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/math.science.history Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mathsciencehistory  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/math-science-history/  Threads: https://www.threads.com/@math.science.history  YouTube: Math! Science! History! - YouTube Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/mathsciencehistory  🎧 Enjoying the Podcast? ☕ Support the Show: Coffee!! PayPal Leave a review! It helps more people discover the show! Share this episode with friends & fellow history buffs! Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform Check out our merch: https://www.mathsciencehistory.com/the-store Music: All music is public domain and has no copyright and rights reserved. Selections from The Little Prince by Lloyd Rodgers Travelling and Discovering by Musinova from Pixabay Lake of Light by Vinsvept from Pixabay Orlando Gibbons (bap.1583-1625) - Galliard à3, for Treble & Bass Viols with Great Bass, Dr. Phillip W. Serna, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Deafening Bounce Groove by Rockot from Pixabay  Until next time, carpe diem!

    24 min
  3. FLASHCARDS! Google Maps, Waze, and the Science of Map Distortion

    AUG 29

    FLASHCARDS! Google Maps, Waze, and the Science of Map Distortion

    We use maps all day, including Google Maps, Waze, Apple Maps. We use them without even noticing that every one of them distorts reality. In this episode, Gabrielle explains why flattening a round Earth always bends the truth, how classic projections (like Mercator) live inside today’s apps, and why those distortions shape our mental picture of the world. Practical, visual, and myth-busting, this is cartography you can feel on your daily commute.  To hear the podcast on Marie Tharp, visit: Math Science History with Gabrielle Birchak Three Coordinates to Remember Why distortion is unavoidable when projecting a 3D globe onto a flat screen (thanks, Gauss). How Web Mercator powers Google Maps/Waze, great for street-level navigation, misleading at global scales. How projection choices shape perception, from Greenland vs. Africa to who appears “big” or “central” on a map. Resources & Visuals Gall–Peters (equal-area) projection: Peters Projection Map: Everything Your Ever Wanted To Know Compare Map Projections: https://map-projections.net/compare.php Buckminster Fuller’s Dymaxion map (unfolded globe): https://www.bfi.org/about-fuller/dymaxion-map “The True Size Of…” (drag countries to compare real sizes): https://thetruesize.com 🔗 Explore more on our website: mathsciencehistory.com 📚 To buy my book Hypatia: The Sum of Her Life on Amazon, visit https://a.co/d/g3OuP9h 🌍 Let’s Connect! Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/mathsciencehistory.bsky.social Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/math.science.history Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mathsciencehistory  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/math-science-history/  Threads: https://www.threads.com/@math.science.history  YouTube: Math! Science! History! - YouTube Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/mathsciencehistory  🎧 Enjoying the Podcast? If you love Math, Science, History, here’s how you can help: 🌟 Leave a review! It helps more people discover the show! 📢 Share this episode with friends & fellow history buffs! 🔔 Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform ☕ Support the Show: Coffee!! PayPal 🛍 Check out our merch: https://www.mathsciencehistory.com/the-store 🎵 Music: All music is public domain and has no Copyright and no rights reserved. Selections from The Little Prince by Lloyd Rodgers Until next time, carpe diem!

    7 min
  4. Marie Tharp and the Secret Mountains Beneath the Sea

    AUG 26

    Marie Tharp and the Secret Mountains Beneath the Sea

    Geologist-cartographer Marie Tharp turned echo-sounding numbers into the first global seafloor maps—revealing the Mid-Atlantic Ridge’s rift valley and helping vindicate Alfred Wegener’s once-dismissed theory of continental drift. This episode traces Tharp’s path from wartime classrooms to world-changing maps, the resistance she faced, and the recognition that finally followed. Three Key Points: How Tharp and Bruce Heezen transformed sonar data into the physiographic maps that visualized seafloor spreading. Why the Mid-Atlantic Ridge’s rift valley was a “smoking gun” for plate tectonics. How gender bias delayed credit for one of geology’s most consequential discoveries. Resources & Further Reading (links) World / Ocean Floors and Land Relief (Heezen–Tharp map) at the David Rumsey Collection. David Rumsey Map Collection Browse all Tharp items in the David Rumsey Historical Map Collection. David Rumsey Map Collection Library of Congress Heezen–Tharp Collection (finding aid & digitized items). Library of Congress Handle Resolver About Marie Tharp (Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory mini-site). marietharp.ldeo.columbia.edu Marie Tharp biography (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution). Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution SECNAV press release renaming USNS Marie Tharp (T-AGS-66), Mar 8, 2023. Navy+1 Google Doodle celebrating Marie Tharp (interactive). Google Doodleslamont.columbia.edu 🔗 Explore more on our website: mathsciencehistory.com 📚 To buy my book Hypatia: The Sum of Her Life on Amazon, visit https://a.co/d/g3OuP9h  🌍 Let’s Connect! Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/mathsciencehistory.bsky.social Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/math.science.history Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mathsciencehistory  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/math-science-history/  Threads: https://www.threads.com/@math.science.history  YouTube: Math! Science! History! - YouTube Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/mathsciencehistory  🎧 Enjoying the Podcast? ☕ Support the Show: Coffee!! PayPal Leave a review! It helps more people discover the show! Share this episode with friends & fellow history buffs! Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform Check out our merch: https://www.mathsciencehistory.com/the-store Music: All music is public domain and has no Copyright and no rights reserved. Selections from The Little Prince by Lloyd Rodgers. From Page to Practice by Brian Teoh. Nature Documentary by Alisia Beats. Slow Tide by u_98673jp94.  Sound effects from Pixabay: Thank you Dragon Studio and Solarmusic Until next time, carpe diem!

    22 min
  5. FLASHCARDS! You Could Be a Scientist! Everyday Microscope Moments

    AUG 22

    FLASHCARDS! You Could Be a Scientist! Everyday Microscope Moments

    In this Flashcards Friday, Gabrielle shows how you already think like a scientist. Using three simple ideas from microscopy: magnification, illumination, and focus, she connects everyday phone habits (zooming, finding good light, tapping to focus) to centuries of scientific practice. Three Flashcards Magnification: How “zooming in” reveals hidden detail, and why that mindset matters in science and daily life. Illumination: How changing the light transforms what you can see, from selfies to specimens. Focus: Why patience and fine-tuning bring true clarity (on your phone and under a lens). Links to Resources ·         Microscope Basics (Britannica): https://www.britannica.com/technology/microscope ·         Illumination & Contrast (Nikon MicroscopyU): https://www.microscopyu.com/techniques ·         Optics Primer: Lenses & Light (HyperPhysics): http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/geoopt/lenscon.html 🔗 Explore more on our website: mathsciencehistory.com 📚 To buy my book Hypatia: The Sum of Her Life on Amazon, visit https://a.co/d/g3OuP9h 🌍 Let’s Connect! Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/mathsciencehistory.bsky.social Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/math.science.history Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mathsciencehistory  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/math-science-history/  Threads: https://www.threads.com/@math.science.history  YouTube: Math! Science! History! - YouTube Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/mathsciencehistory  🎧 Enjoying the Podcast? ☕ Support the Show: Coffee!! PayPal 🌟 Leave a review! It helps more people discover the show! 📢 Share this episode with friends & fellow history buffs! 🔔 Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform 🛍 Check out our merch: https://www.mathsciencehistory.com/the-store 🎵 Music: All music is public domain and has no Copyright and no rights reserved. On Matters of Consequence from The Little Prince by Lloyd Rodgers Until next time, carpe diem!

    5 min
  6. REPOST: A Brief History of the Microscope

    AUG 19

    REPOST: A Brief History of the Microscope

    First crafted in the late 16th century, the microscope forever changed science by revealing worlds hidden from the naked eye. In this special repost from 2020, Gabrielle takes you through centuries of innovation—from glass lenses to high-tech marvels—and explores how this transformative tool shaped medicine, biology, and our understanding of life itself. Three key topics The origins of the microscope, including its earliest inventors and the coining of its name in 1625. How microscopes evolved from simple lenses to electron and cryo-electron imaging. The ways microscopes continue to impact scientific discovery today. Links to Resources Luke Jerram’s Glass Microbe Sculptures: https://www.lukejerram.com/ National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases – COVID-19 Images: https://www.niaid.nih.gov/news-events/novel-coronavirus-sarscov2-images History of Microscopy – Encyclopedia Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/technology/microscope Explore more on our website: mathsciencehistory.com To buy my book Hypatia: The Sum of Her Life on Amazon, visit https://a.co/d/g3OuP9h   🌍 Let’s Connect! Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/mathsciencehistory.bsky.social Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/math.science.history Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mathsciencehistory  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/math-science-history/  Threads: https://www.threads.com/@math.science.history  YouTube: Math! Science! History! - YouTube Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/mathsciencehistory  🎧 Enjoying the Podcast? ☕ Support the Show: Coffee!! PayPal Leave a review! It helps more people discover the show! Share this episode with friends & fellow history buffs! Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform Check out our merch: https://www.mathsciencehistory.com/the-store 🎵 Music: All music is public domain and has no Copyright and no rights reserved. Selections from The Little Prince by Lloyd Rodgers Until next time, carpe diem!

    18 min
  7. FLASHCARDS! Tourism: When History and Star Trek Intertwine

    AUG 15

    FLASHCARDS! Tourism: When History and Star Trek Intertwine

    In this episode of Math! Science! History!, we explore the ethics of exploration through three lenses: the protests over modern overtourism, the historical insights of early scientific explorers, and the fictional moral compass of Star Trek’s Prime Directive. From 18th-century expeditions to the 23rd-century starship Enterprise, we examine how curiosity, respect, and humility can guide how we move through the world, whether on cobblestone streets or alien worlds. Three Things Listeners Will Learn The origins and real-world inspiration behind Star Trek’s Prime Directive. How early scientific explorers approached discovery with respect for cultures and environments. Practical ways to travel ethically in an age of overtourism. Links to Resources Louvre Museum staff strike over overcrowding: Louvre shut down by spontaneous staff strike over 'untenable' working conditions Venice overtourism measures: Venice Doubles Last-Minute 'Tourist Tax' ,  Other Cities Watch Closely - Business Insider Star Trek “The Return of the Archons” episode summary: The Return of the Archons (episode) | Memory Alpha | Fandom Star Trek Prime Directive overview: https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Prime_Directive Explore more on our website: mathsciencehistory.com To buy my book Hypatia: The Sum of Her Life on Amazon, visit https://a.co/d/g3OuP9h 🎧 Enjoying the Podcast? ☕ Support the Show: Coffee!! PayPal 🌟 Leave a review! It helps more people discover the show! 📢 Share this episode with friends & fellow history buffs! 🔔 Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform 🌍 Let’s Connect! Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/mathsciencehistory.bsky.social Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/math.science.history Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mathsciencehistory  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/math-science-history/  Threads: https://www.threads.com/@math.science.history  YouTube: Math! Science! History! - YouTube Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/mathsciencehistory  🛍 Check out our merch: https://www.mathsciencehistory.com/the-store 🎵 Music: All music is public domain and has no Copyright and no rights reserved. Selections from The Little Prince by Lloyd Rodgers Until next time, carpe diem!

    10 min
  8. REPOST: Quantum Computing & Brahmagupta: From Zero to Qubits

    AUG 12

    REPOST: Quantum Computing & Brahmagupta: From Zero to Qubits

    This episode bridges the ancient and the cutting-edge, tracing the legacy of 7th-century mathematician Brahmagupta, who formalized the concept of zero, to today’s quantum computing revolution. We explore how his foundational work in numerical systems underpins binary logic and, ultimately, the qubits powering modern quantum processors like Microsoft’s Majorana 1 and Google’s Willow. From historical insight to the promise of quantum-driven solutions for climate change, medicine, and cybersecurity, this episode is a testament to how human innovation builds across centuries. The key points include How Brahmagupta’s introduction of zero and rules for numbers shaped the foundation of binary and quantum logic. The latest breakthroughs in quantum computing, including Microsoft’s Majorana 1 and Google’s Willow processor. Why quantum computing could transform fields from medicine and climate modeling to global logistics and encryption. 🏛 Links & Resources: ·  Microsoft unveils Majorana 1 chip ·  Google’s Willow Processor Overview ·  History of Brahmagupta 🔗 Explore more on our website: mathsciencehistory.com 📚 To buy my book Hypatia: The Sum of Her Life on Amazon, visit https://a.co/d/g3OuP9h  🌍 Let’s Connect! Website: mathsciencehistory.com Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/mathsciencehistory.bsky.social Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/math.science.history 🎧 Enjoying the Podcast? If you love Math, Science, History, here’s how you can help: 🌟 Leave a review! It helps more people discover the show! 📢 Share this episode with friends & fellow history buffs! 🔔 Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform ☕ Support the Show: Coffee!! PayPal 🛍 Checking out our merch: https://www.mathsciencehistory.com/the-store 🎵 Music: All music is public domain and has no Copyright and no rights reserved. Selections from The Little Prince by Lloyd Rodgers Until next time, carpe diem!!

    12 min
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About

Math! Science! History! is about the history of people, theories, and discoveries that have moved our scientific progress forward and spurred us on to unimaginable discoveries. Join Gabrielle Birchak for a little math, a little science, and a little history. All in a little bit of time.

Information

  • Creator
    Gabrielle Birchak
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2025
  • Episodes
    151
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2025
  • Show Website
    Math! Science! History!