In Our Time

Imaginary Numbers


Listen Later

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss imaginary numbers. In the sixteenth century, a group of mathematicians in Bologna found a solution to a problem that had puzzled generations before them: a completely new kind of number. For more than a century this discovery was greeted with such scepticism that the great French thinker Rene Descartes dismissed it as an "imaginary" number.The name stuck - but so did the numbers. Long dismissed as useless or even fictitious, the imaginary number i and its properties were first explored seriously in the eighteenth century. Today the imaginary numbers are in daily use by engineers, and are vital to our understanding of phenomena including electricity and radio waves. With Marcus du SautoyProfessor of Mathematics at Oxford University Ian StewartEmeritus Professor of Mathematics at the University of WarwickCaroline SeriesProfessor of Mathematics at the University of WarwickProducer: Thomas Morris.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

In Our TimeBy BBC Radio 4

  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6

4.6

5,021 ratings


More shows like In Our Time

View all
Global News Podcast by BBC World Service

Global News Podcast

7,686 Listeners

History Extra podcast by Immediate Media

History Extra podcast

3,220 Listeners

Great Lives by BBC Radio 4

Great Lives

507 Listeners

Business Daily by BBC World Service

Business Daily

525 Listeners

More or Less: Behind the Stats by BBC Radio 4

More or Less: Behind the Stats

899 Listeners

World Business Report by BBC World Service

World Business Report

295 Listeners

Newshour by BBC World Service

Newshour

1,053 Listeners

In Our Time: History by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time: History

1,884 Listeners

In Our Time: Culture by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time: Culture

599 Listeners

In Our Time: Science by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time: Science

727 Listeners

In Our Time: Religion by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time: Religion

283 Listeners

In Our Time: Philosophy by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time: Philosophy

864 Listeners

The Life Scientific by BBC Radio 4

The Life Scientific

236 Listeners

The LRB Podcast by The London Review of Books

The LRB Podcast

293 Listeners

Dan Snow's History Hit by History Hit

Dan Snow's History Hit

4,796 Listeners

Evil Genius with Russell Kane by BBC Sounds

Evil Genius with Russell Kane

355 Listeners

Have You Heard George's Podcast? by BBC Sounds

Have You Heard George's Podcast?

227 Listeners

Elis James and John Robins by BBC Radio 5 Live

Elis James and John Robins

316 Listeners

You're Dead to Me by BBC Radio 4

You're Dead to Me

3,197 Listeners

The Ancients by History Hit

The Ancients

3,205 Listeners

The Rest Is History by Goalhanger

The Rest Is History

14,234 Listeners

Gone Medieval by History Hit

Gone Medieval

1,829 Listeners

Sport's Strangest Crimes by BBC Radio 5 Live

Sport's Strangest Crimes

70 Listeners

Uncanny by BBC Radio 4

Uncanny

748 Listeners

Dua Lipa: At Your Service by BBC Sounds

Dua Lipa: At Your Service

998 Listeners

Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley by BBC Radio 4

Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley

497 Listeners

Empire by Goalhanger

Empire

2,332 Listeners

Believe in Magic by BBC Sounds

Believe in Magic

617 Listeners

The Global Story by BBC World Service

The Global Story

250 Listeners

Miss Me? by BBC Sounds

Miss Me?

280 Listeners

The History Podcast by BBC Radio 4

The History Podcast

26 Listeners

Rory Stewart: The Long History of... by BBC Radio 4

Rory Stewart: The Long History of...

89 Listeners

Havana Helmet Club by BBC Sounds

Havana Helmet Club

9 Listeners