Akshata and Christian bring on a new guest Ryan to talk about the ever elusive idea of mathematical creativity. How do mathematicians experience creativity? How is creativity different while problem solving in math class versus while doing actual mathematical research? Does the process of creativity or its results matter more? Through this more conversational episode, our hosts discuss what it means for something to be "beautiful" to mathematicians and even the commonalities between mathematical creativity and artistic creativity -like in painting or music. For more of a cultural angle, listeners may be interested to hear about how success in math is often dependent on recognition by "gatekeepers" in a more Anglocentric mathematics community, and how the politics of funding can affect math research itself. So many wide-ranging topics, and even more to come in Part 2! 

Sources and show notes can be found at: https://workbyakshata.wordpress.com/?p=591

Follow The Expanding Brain Podcast on twitter: https://twitter.com/brain_expanding

Email us with any questions or topic ideas at [email protected].

Support us on Patreon if you like what we do, want to see bonus content, or have a couple bucks to spare: https://www.patreon.com/expandingbrain

Our personal twitters are: https://twitter.com/artbyakshata and https://twitter.com/blkWittgenstein.