The Art of Mathematics

Carol Jacoby
  • 4.7 (27)
  • MATHEMATICS
  • UPDATED BIMONTHLY

Conversations, explorations, conjectures solved and unsolved, mathematicians and beautiful mathematics. No math background required.

  1. APR 23

    The Many Facets of Math

    Alon Amit addresses the various facets of mathematics. Is it an art or a science? Both? Neither? Is it invented or discovered? Why is math that's developed for purely aesthetic reasons so often a useful tool for the real world? He likes that there are not simple, one-way answers. He challenges the listeners to post questions to Quora that surprise and delight him.

    16 min

  2. MAR 26

    Will AI Replace Mathematicians?

    Alon Amit, prolific Quora math answerer, discusses how Artificial Intelligence might change the role of the mathematician. AI will make mathematics more efficient but it can't do math in a deep sense at present. It can't perform logical reasoning or even know if it's wrong. However, there are recent advances in proof verifiers. They may eventually be able to check complex proofs like the recent alleged proof of the ABC Conjecture.

    20 min

  3. FEB 26

    The National Museum of Mathematics

    Cindy Lawrence is the Director and CEO of the National Museum of Mathematics in New York City. She and a former math professor built it up from a grass-roots museum started by math teachers. The Museum, soon to move into a 30,000 square foot space, appeals to both those who love and hate math. Attendees learn that math is beautiful, fun, and surprising--"That's so cool!"

    18 min

  4. JAN 22

    Contemporary Math Research for Artistic Undergrads

    Veselin Jungic, teaching professor of mathematics at Simon Fraser University, introduces undergraduate math minors to contemporary math research. The focus is Ramsey theory, an area of current research activity that brings together multiple areas of math, deals with big ideas, proves complete chaos is impossible, and is built on human stories. Some students extended or corrected ongoing research. Others used their artistic talents to express the patterns of mathematics through, for example, a graphic novel or a poem.

    14 min

  5. 12/25/2024

    Where do Math Concepts Come From?

    Joseph Bennish discusses math as a "concept factory." The concept of prime numbers came from a desire to break numbers down to their simplest atoms. This simple concept led to simple questions like the twin prime conjecture that no one has been able to answer. Those questions in turn led to deep research. The concepts of new geometries grew out of failed attempts to prove that Euclid's geometry was the only geometry. Gauss' "most wonderful theorem" of surfaces led to Riemann's higher dimensional manifolds. This, combined with Minkowski's space-time geometry, led to Einstein's relativity, "the most beautiful theory of physics."

    21 min

  6. 11/27/2024

    A Clockmaker, an Egg, and a Cathedral

    Jeanne Lazzarini tells us how a clockmaker used an egg to win the competition to build the dome of the Florence Cathedral. The Cathedral had had a huge gaping hole for a hundred years since no one knew how to build such a large dome. His solution involved the equation for a hanging chain and parallel lines that meet.

    14 min

  7. 10/23/2024

    What is a Pattern?

    Math is in a sense the science of patterns. Alon Amit explores the question of what exactly is a pattern. A common example is the decimal digits of pi. The statement that they have no pattern seems to be either obvious or completely untrue. We explore the spectrum of pattern-ness from simple repetition to total randomness and finally answer the question about pi. We also discuss analogy, which powers mathematical exploration.

    13 min

  8. 09/25/2024

    What's the Big Deal about Pi?

    Alon Amit joins us on the antipode of Pi Day to counter the myths and mysteries of this most famous irrational number. There's nothing magical about a non-repeating string of digits. The real and profound mystery is the ubiquity of pi. It shows up in places that have nothing to do with circles, such as the sum of the reciprocals of the squares of the integers and the normal bell-shaped curve.

    18 min
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Ratings & Reviews

4.7
out of 5
27 Ratings

About

Conversations, explorations, conjectures solved and unsolved, mathematicians and beautiful mathematics. No math background required.

Information

  • Creator
    Carol Jacoby
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2025
  • Episodes
    72
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Carol Jacoby
  • Show Website
    The Art of Mathematics

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