6 episodes
It’s Not Just Numbers Marcello Seri, Marit van Straaten
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- Education
A podcast on mathematics and its human side.
In a conversation with mathematicians, we address some common stereotypes and misconceptions, giving space to the people of mathematics.
Each episode will start by getting to know the guests, their research, their drive and what they do outside mathematics. In the second half of the episode we will discuss together some theme related to mathematics and mathematicians.
The podcast is produced by Marcello Seri and Marit van Straaten.
Opinions are our own.
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S1E06 - Mathematics in the "real" world, with Cristóbal Bertoglio and Juan Peypouquet
Welcome to the sixth episode of It's Not Just Numbers! Complementing last month’s episode, we are joined by Cristóbal Bertoglio and Juan Peypouquet to discuss the multifacet world of applied mathematics.
We discuss why communicating as a researcher is more important than most people realise, and the idea that people cannot switch between different fields within mathematics.
Episode links:
Cristóbal's website: https://www.rug.nl/staff/c.a.bertoglio
Juan's website: https://www.rug.nl/staff/j.g.peypouquet
If you liked this episode, please spread the voice sharing it with your friends or on your social media.
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Produced by Marcello Seri and Marit van Straaten
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Illustrations by Henrieke Krijgsheld
The podcast soundtrack is derived from the royalty free track Starving by OctoSound and used in agreement with pixabay license https://pixabay.com/music/funk-starving-170377
We are grateful to the Faculty of Science and Engineering of the University of Groningen for allowing us to use their equipment for this recording. -
S1E05 - "Pure" Maths, with Oliver Lorscheid and Jaap Top
Welcome to the fifth episode, where we focus on so-called 'pure' mathematics, together with our guests Oliver Lorscheid and Jaap Top.
We discuss the term 'pure' mathematics, the relation to applied mathematics, and a question mathematicians might come across often: why should we care about mathematics that is not immediately applicable?
Other topics of discussion are how our guests were drawn to mathematics, and how to change students' perspectives on mathematics in high school. Or is just focussing on students not enough?
Episode links:
Jaap Top's website: https://www.rug.nl/staff/j.top
Oliver Lorscheid's website: https://oliver.impa.br
Pythagoras, the mathematics magazine for high school students: https://www.pyth.eu
FMF Periodiek: https://perio.fmf.nl
Chalkdust magazine: https://chalkdustmagazine.com
If you liked this episode, please spread the voice sharing it with your friends or on your social media.
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Produced by Marcello Seri and Marit van Straaten
= = = { 0 } = = =
Illustrations by Henrieke Krijgsheld
The podcast soundtrack is derived from the royalty free track Starving by OctoSound and used in agreement with pixabay license https://pixabay.com/music/funk-starving-170377
We are grateful to the friends of FSE Radio for allowing us to use their equipment for this recording. Consider giving their podcast a go: https://open.spotify.com/show/1wi0YWwEQiZHyNDEYG2KHz -
S1E04 - Talking maths to strangers, with Julian Koellermeier and Roland van der Veen
Welcome to our fourth episode, on public engagement with mathematics.
Sitting with us are Julian Koellermeier and Roland van der Veen, which will share what drove them to mathematics and their deep passion for engaging with adults and kids outside our university bubble.
We will discuss the importance of time and reflection, the role of grants in our research, the many advantages of learning how to communicate mathematics to broader audiences despite the lack of support of it.
Episode links:
Julian Koellermeier's website: https://www.math.rug.nl/j.koellermeier
Roland van der Veen's website: http://rolandvdv.nl
Roland's book on the Riemann hypothesis:https://maa.org/press/maa-reviews/the-riemann-hypothesis
Indra's pearls (Note by Roland: the amazing book I wrote by bachelor's thesis about): https://www.ams.org/notices/200301/rev-marden.pdf
Roland's PhD defense dance demonstration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6zxKBUI3wY
If you liked this episode, please spread the voice sharing it with your friends or on your social media.
= = = { 0 } = = =
Produced by Marcello Seri and Marit van Straaten
= = = { 0 } = = =
Illustrations by Henrieke Krijgsheld
The podcast soundtrack is derived from the royalty free track Starving by OctoSound and used in agreement with pixabay license https://pixabay.com/music/funk-starving-170377
We are grateful to the Faculty of Science and Engineering of the University of Groningen for allowing to use its podcast recording facilities for this episode -
S1E03 - Teaching mathematics, with Tamás Görbe and Cecília Salgado
Welcome to our third episode, on teaching mathematics.
Sitting with us are Tamás Görbe and Cecília Salgado, which will share their enthusiasm for mathematics and for teaching. The discussion is broad and ranges to a number of themes that will overlap also with future episodes.
We will discuss the impostor phenomenon or impostor syndrome, how it affected us in different ways and in different stages of our careers, and how this relates to our approaches to teaching. The enthusiasm of our guests is contagious and I hope it will transpare from the recording!
Episode links:
Tamás Görbe website: https://www.tamasgorbe.com/
Cecília Salgado website: https://www.math.rug.nl/algebra/Main/salgado
Austin Kleon, Steal like an artist: https://austinkleon.com/steal
Federico Ardila (2016) Todos Cuentan: Cultivating Diversity in Combinatorics, Notices of the AMS 63(10) 1164-1170, https://doi.org/10.1090/noti1434
Carl E. Wieman (2014) Large-scale comparison of science teaching methods sends clear message, PNAS 111 (23) 8319-8320, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1407304111
Iddo Drori et al. (2022) A neural network solves, explains, and generates university math problems by program synthesis and few-shot learning at human level, PNAS 119 (32) e2123433119, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2123433119
If you liked this episode, please spread the voice sharing it with your friends or on your social media.
= = = { 0 } = = =
Produced by Marcello Seri and Marit van Straaten
= = = { 0 } = = =
Illustrations by Henrieke Krijgsheld
The podcast soundtrack is derived from the royalty free track Starving by OctoSound and used in agreement with pixabay license https://pixabay.com/music/funk-starving-170377
We are grateful to the friends of FSE Radio for allowing us to use their equipment for this recording. Consider giving their podcast a go: https://betastuf.nl/other/fse-radio/ -
S1E02 - Studying mathematics, with Alef Sterk and Henk van Waarde
Welcome to the first "real" episode of the podcast, where we meet Alef Sterk and Henk van Waarde and talk to them about the transition from high school to university. In our discussion we get to know them and explore their experience in studying mathematics and their recommendations for newcoming students.
This episode features a very personal discussion that leads us to the myth of the mathematical genius and led us to talk about mathematics as a subject for everybody, where the personal effort and the courage to learn from making mistake are the key to success.
Episode links:
- Alef Sterk webpage: https://www.math.rug.nl/~alef/
- Henk van Waarde webpage: https://henkvanwaarde.github.io/
If you liked this episode, please spread the voice sharing it with your friends or on your social media.
= = = { 0 } = = =
Produced by Marcello Seri and Marit van Straaten
= = = { 0 } = = =
Illustrations by Henrieke Krijgsheld
The podcast soundtrack is derived from the royalty free track Starving by OctoSound and used in agreement with pixabay license https://pixabay.com/music/funk-starving-170377
We are grateful to the Faculty of Science and Engineering, Univeristy of Groningen, for allowing us to use their podcast recording facilities -
S1E01 - A pilot with your hosts
Welcome to the first episode of Not Just Numbers!
As you can hear, this episode started as a pilot for us to learn how the equipment works. In this conversation, we introduce ourselves and share our far from linear paths to mathematics, discussing both our work, our experience of doing mathematics. Towards the end we touch upon what it is like to do a PhD in mathematics.
If you liked this episode, please spread the voice sharing it with your friends or on your social media.
= = = { 0 } = = =
Produced by Marcello Seri and Marit van Straaten
= = = { 0 } = = =
Illustrations by Henrieke Krijgsheld
The podcast soundtrack is derived from the royalty free track Starving by OctoSound and used in agreement with pixabay license https://pixabay.com/music/funk-starving-170377
We are grateful to the Faculty of Science and Engineering, Univeristy of Groningen, for allowing us to use their podcast recording facilities