Living Proof: the Isaac Newton Institute podcast

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In the latest episode, Dan Aspel speaks to Simon Cox and Adil Mughal - organisers of the 2023 programme "GeomPack: Geometry and packing in material structure and biology". The second ever INI satellite programme, GeomPack is being held at Aberystwyth University in its 150th year. Simon and Adil explain the joys and challenges of organising such an event, as well as the fascinating research which has seen them and the participants tackle "some of the knottiest problems in mathematics for centuries”.

PMV programme: https://www.newton.ac.uk/event/pmv/

00:00 - Introduction
00:58 - Welcome and programme overview, life in Aberystwyth
03:40 - Comparing the experience to events at INI, origins of the GeomPack community
08:40 - Marbles and pint glasses: how to explain packing problems (the Kepler conjecture and "some of the knottiest problems in mathematics for centuries”)
17:00 - The fascination of the “Einstein tile”
19:10 - Learnings from running an INI satellite programme
25:45 - Looking ahead to the future

Episode recorded 04/09/23

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Episode recorded: 17/07/23

In this episode of Living Proof, Dan Aspel speaks to Coralie Colmez, author of the young adult novel "The Irrational Diary of Clara Valentine" - recently chosen as one of Chalkdust magazine's "books of the year". A Cambridge maths graduate herself, it was Coralie's ambition to write a story rich in both mathematics and mystery - with the Chalkdust review highlighting that "the explanations of the solutions to these puzzles are blended into the story expertly". In this interview, Coralie explains further about the books origins, its intentions and what comes next.

Find out more about Coralie's writing, download a free PDF of the book, and find links to other online sellers here: https://www.coraliecolmez.com/books

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Episode recorded: 07/07/23

In this episode of Living Proof, Dan Aspel and Marianne Freiberger are joined by Tomer Schlank (Hebrew University of Jerusalem) and Jeremy Hahn (MIT). Working alongside Robert Burklund and Ishan Levy, Tomer and Jeremy's recently announced a disproof of Ravenel's telescope conjecture at the June 2023 INI workshop "A panorama of homotopy theory".  Here, they explain why this was such a significant announcement, and what effect it has had on the field of homotopy theory.

2018 INI programme: https://www.newton.ac.uk/event/hhh/
2023 follow-on workshop: https://www.newton.ac.uk/event/hhhw05/

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The 23rd of June 2023 marks exactly thirty years since Sir Andrew Wiles announced his historic first proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem. He did so at the Isaac Newton Institute, during the culmination of three days of special lectures, delivered as part of the June 1993 L-functions and arithmetic programme - one of the first research meetings to take place at the recently founded INI.

To mark this happy occasion, we - together with our colleagues at Plus magazine and the Maths on the move! podcast - present this short documentary. In it we speak not only to Wiles himself, but to others who were a part of this historic moment or whose work the proof continues to inspire.

Find more, including a video interview with Andrew Wiles and accompanying article, right here: https://www.newton.ac.uk/news/ini-news/wiles-flt-30/ 

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This year, and more specifically during the week of 20 March, the Newton Gateway to Mathematics will be celebrating its 10th anniversary.

A "knowledge intermediary for the mathematical sciences" and the "impact initiative" of the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences, the Gateway has spent the past decade connecting mathematical research with industry, businesses, the public sector and other scientific disciplines.

To mark this happy occasion - and to look back at the past, and ahead to the future - Dan Aspel is joined by Newton Gateway manager Clare Merritt for a brief but insightful conversation.

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In this 50th (!) episode of Living Proof, Dan Aspel speaks to Rachel Thomas and Marianne Freiberger of Plus magazine. Plus works closely with INI to help explain, celebrate and publicise the research that happens at the Institute. But what challenges does that present? And why should it happen in the first place?

00:00 - Introduction
00:44 - Welcome, discussing “Communicating Mathematics for the Public”, the importance of trustworthiness
05:30 - Who you’re speaking to vs what you’re saying
07:38 - Making higher mathematics accessible to audiences: “any bit of mathematics either comes from somewhere, or is going somewhere, or both”
14:20 - Are there incommunicable subjects?
16:55 - The rarity of maths “headlines”
19:25 - The partnership between INI and Plus magazine - why is it important?
23:25 - Are some topics inherently more interesting?
25:26 - What is the end goal of maths communication? “I would love it if people could see how maths is everywhere… that maths is a language of rhythms and patterns”
30:00 - Looking to the future

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In episode #49 of Living Proof, Dan Aspel and Maha Kaouri are joined by presenter, writer and comedian Timandra Harkness. The author of Big Data: Does Size Matter? And Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society speaks about her current projects, how to make maths "funny", and how she came to fall in love with mathematics from an arts and humanities background.

> Visit timandraharkness.com or find Timandra on Twitter @TimandraHarknes

00:00 - Introduction
00:44 - Welcome, discussing “Communicating Mathematics for the Public”
03:38 - Origins of Timandra’s interest in maths, understanding “enough to ask the right questions”
07:50 - Discussing the book “Big Data - Does Size Matter?”
11:10 - Other current projects and shows, writing another book about “why everything is personalised”
13:13 - Mingling an arts background with a mathematics focus, “coming out as a closet mathematician”
17:10 - How do you make maths funny as a comedian? ... “What’s a statistician’s favourite sandwich filling?”
21:10 - Future projects

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Episode published 15/02/23

In episode #48 of Living Proof, Dan Aspel and Maha Kaouri speak to Hannah Thomas of Government Analysis Function (analysisfunction.civilservice.gov.uk). Hannah's role at this "network for civil servants", is that of "Lead Support for Communicating Data, Statistics and Analysis" - making her the perfect person to discuss how to make data accessible.

This conversation was inspired by the Newton Gateway event  "Communicating Mathematics for the Public" at which Hannah delivered the talk "Data Visualisation and Digital Accessibility: What We Can Do to Help".

00:00 - Introduction
00:44 - Welcome, discussing "Communicating Mathematics for the Public" ("as entertaining as Disneyland Paris and definitely more inspiring")
04:20 - All about Government Analysis Function, a love of data journalism, career history
13:35 - Visualising data and making digital information accessible
21:40 - Common accessibility pitfalls
24:20 - Plans for the future... e-learning resources

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Thanks to the generous support of the Simons Foundation, the INI-Simons Postdoctoral Fellowships in Mathematics is now in its second year of enabling “exceptional early career researchers in the mathematical sciences” to gain “experience, independence and new connections on their way to a successful academic career”. 

In this episode of Living Proof, Dan Aspel speak to Dr Nicolas Boulle to learn about his journey through mathematics so far, and to find out what being awarded this Fellowship – which involves spending six months on an INI research programme and six months working at Cambridge University’s Faculty of Maths – means to him personally.

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Thanks to the generous support of the Simons Foundation, the INI-Simons Postdoctoral Fellowships in Mathematics are enabling “exceptional early career researchers in the mathematical sciences” to gain “experience, independence and new connections on their way to a successful academic career”. 

In this episode of Living Proof, Dan Aspel speak to Dr Patrick Sprenger to learn about his journey through mathematics so far, and to find out what being awarded this Fellowship – which involves spending six months on an INI research programme and six months working at Cambridge University’s Faculty of Maths – means to him personally.