December 13, 2010

Method to Our Mathness

Listen Later

53 minutes

The language of science is mathematics. As incredible as it seems, the universe seems to run according to laws we can write down on chalkboards.

But it’s not just lab-coated researchers who wield the tool of math: Madison Avenue knows that if they tell you that a shampoo is 32 percent better, you’re likely to buy it.

Also, how scientists of the early twentieth century were forced to invent entirely new mathematical paradigms to describe the cosmos on big scales and small – the theories of general relativity and quantum mechanics.

Plus, what about everyday arithmetic? Have pocket calculators and digital cash registers dumbed down the populace?

Guests:

Charles Seife - Professor of journalism at New York University, and author of Proofiness: The Dark Arts of Mathematical Deception

James Kakalios - Professor of physics at the University of Minnesota, and author of The Amazing Story of Quantum Mechanics: A Math-Free Exploration of the Science that Made Our World

Leonard Mlodinow - Physicist, and author with Stephen Hawking of The Grand Design

Aimee Ellington - Professor of mathematics at Virginia Commonwealth University

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Big Picture Science

By Big Picture Science

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December 13, 2010

Method to Our Mathness

Listen Later

53 minutes

The language of science is mathematics. As incredible as it seems, the universe seems to run according to laws we can write down on chalkboards.

But it’s not just lab-coated researchers who wield the tool of math: Madison Avenue knows that if they tell you that a shampoo is 32 percent better, you’re likely to buy it.

Also, how scientists of the early twentieth century were forced to invent entirely new mathematical paradigms to describe the cosmos on big scales and small – the theories of general relativity and quantum mechanics.

Plus, what about everyday arithmetic? Have pocket calculators and digital cash registers dumbed down the populace?

Guests:

Charles Seife - Professor of journalism at New York University, and author of Proofiness: The Dark Arts of Mathematical Deception

James Kakalios - Professor of physics at the University of Minnesota, and author of The Amazing Story of Quantum Mechanics: A Math-Free Exploration of the Science that Made Our World

Leonard Mlodinow - Physicist, and author with Stephen Hawking of The Grand Design

Aimee Ellington - Professor of mathematics at Virginia Commonwealth University

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

...more

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