Mason Porter is an applied mathematician who is a University Lecturer and Tutor at the University of Oxford. He talks about

    his work (at time 0:09)
    being a mathematician (1:04)
    how mathematics compares with other disciplines (1:35)
    applied mathematics and pure mathematics (2:04)
    academic mathematics and industry mathematics (2:48)
    support in his professional life (3:56)
    professional credentials (5:32)
    dissemination of his results (6:15)
    promoting the subject (8:39)
    the public image of mathematics (10:12)
    the "leaky pipeline" where women are lost to mathematics careers (11:44)
    the value of role models for potential mathematicians (14:28)

More information, worksheets and other resources for the undergraduate mathematics curriculum: www.beingamathematician.org

Mason Porter: "I don't usually prove theorems"

Audio files from the project Being a Professional Mathematician, which produced worksheets and other resources for the undergraduate mathematics curriculum. www.beingamathematician.org

Natural Sciences

Science & Medicine

Social Sciences

Medicine

Education

Training

Language Courses

Higher Education

K-12

Educational Technology

Business

Investing

Careers

Management & Marketing

Business News

Shopping

Tony Mann talks about the career of Hugh Everett III (1930 - 1982), famous for his "Many Worlds" interpretation of quantum theory. He talks about:

    introduction to Everett's career (time 0:10)
    Everett's work in Quantum Theory (0:43)
    Game Theory and Operations Research (2:13)
    consultancy (3:12)
    belated interest in Everett's ideas on Quantum Theory (3:30)
    Everett's death (4:01)
    summary of his career (4:25)

More information, worksheets and other resources for the undergraduate mathematics curriculum: www.beingamathematician.org

Hugh Everett III: Many Worlds of Mathematics

Noel-Ann Bradshaw talks about Florence Nightingale (1820 - 1910), the first woman to be elected a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society. We learn about:

    what you may not know about Florence Nightingale (time 0:21)
    her early interest in mathematics and her parents' disapproval ( 0:49)
    her early career and views on education (1:38)
    the Crimean War (2:36)
    her Polar Area Diagrams (3:34)
    Nightingale's impact (4:06)
    her work back in England (4:52)
    Nightingale as statistician (5:32)

More information, worksheets and other resources for the undergraduate mathematics curriculum: www.beingamathematician.org

Florence Nightingale: "What use were mathematics to a married woman?"

Karen Parshall talks about the nineteenth-century mathematician James Joseph Sylvester. We learn about:

    Sylvester's family background and Jewish heritage (at time 0:27)
    being a Jew in Victorian Britain (1:21)
    his mathematical education (1:57)
    further impact of his Jewishness (2:37)
    a Jew at Cambridge (3:13)
    his first publications (4:24)
    progressing his career, and facing obstacles (5:25)
    end of his first stay in the USA (6:51)
    back in London: a job as actuary, and research progress (7:21)
    "creating his own mathematical community" (8:41)
    his friendship with Cayley (8:58)
    Invariant Theory (9:41)
    taking a degree in law (10:19)
    back to Academia as Professor of Mathematics at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich (10:41)
    defining the "professional mathematician" (11:11)
    Sylvester at Woolwich (11:42)
    enforced retirement, establishing an international reputation (12:30)
    flourishing back in America as a research professor (13:37)
    return to England and the Savilian Chair at Oxford (15:46)

More information, worksheets and other resources for the undergraduate mathematics curriculum: www.beingamathematician.org

James Joseph Sylvester (1814 - 1897): "An outsider breaking into the established societal norms"

Patricia Fara, historian of science at the University of Cambridge, talks about Emilie du Chatelet (1706 - 1749), mathematician, translator and populariser of Newton's work in France. We learn about:
    du Chatelet's background and education (time 0:28)
    her interest in Newtonian ideas (0:52)
    her relationship with Voltaire (1:32)
    her attitude to life and science (2:11)
    the book Elements of the Philosophy of Newton (2:49)
    her translation of Newton's Principia (4:19)
    what was behind du Chatelet's achievement (6:11)
    her context: differences between French and English society in her time (6:51)
    a parallel with Mary Somerville (8:15)
    du Chatelet as a woman in science (9:42) 
More information, worksheets and other resources for the undergraduate mathematics curriculum: www.beingamathematician.org

Emilie du Chatelet: "A normal woman and a good scientist"

Jackie Stedall talks about Thomas Harriot, a notable mathematician who lived in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. She talks about
    Harriot's mathematics (at time 0:16)
    Was Harriot a "professional mathematician"? (0:42)
    Harriot's patrons (0:51)
    Mathematical career patterns in Harriot's time (1:32)
    Harriot's interest in navigation (2:22)
    The problem of stacking cannon balls (3:14)
    Mathematics without immediate practical applications (4:11)
    Did Harriot work collaboratively with others? (4:59)
    Harriot's communications with other mathematicians (5:51)
    How Harrriot disseminated his work (6:45)
    Harriot's reputation as a mathematician (7:45)
    Would Harriot have described himself as a mathematician? (9:50)
    Were Harriot's patrons interested in his mathematics? (10:48)
More information, worksheets and other resources for the undergraduate mathematics curriculum: www.beingamathematician.org

Mason Porter: "I don't usually prove theorems"

Download our free app to listen on your phone