Available online
Description
In this new series, mathematician Dr Hannah Fry explores the mystery of maths. It underpins so much of our modern world that it’s hard to imagine life without its technological advances - but whe...re exactly does maths come from? Is it invented like a language or is it something discovered, part of the fabric of the universe. As we increasingly come to rely on maths this question becomes more important to answer. In this episode, Hannah explores a paradox at the heart of modern maths, discovered by Bertrand Russell, which undermines the very foundations of logic that all of maths is built on. These flaws suggest that maths isn’t a true part of the universe, but might just be a human language – fallible and imprecise. However, Hannah argues that Einstein’s theoretical equations, such as E=mc2 and his theory of General Relativity, are so good at predicting the universe that they must be reflecting some basic structure in it. It really seems that Einstein was discovering the maths behind our world. This idea is supported by Kurt Gödel who proved that there are parts of maths that we have to take on faith – we will never know how or why they are true. Hannah then explores what maths can reveal about the fundamental building blocks of the universe - the subatomic, quantum world – and she discovers that it really is much weirder than we might imagine. The maths tells us that particles can exist in two states at once, like a light being on and off at the same time, and yet quantum physics is at the core of photosynthesis, and therefore fundamental to most of life on earth. More vidence of discovering mathematical rules in nature. But if we accept that maths is part of the structure of the universe, there are two main problems: firstly, the two main theories that predict and describe the universe - Quantum Physics and General Relativity - are actually incompatible; and secondly, most of the maths behind them suggests the likelihood of something even weirder - multiple universes. We may just have to accept that the world really is weirder than we thought, and Hannah concludes that while we have invented the language of maths, the structure behind it all is something we discover. And beyond that, it is the debate about the origins of maths that has had the most profound consequences: it has truly transformed the human experience, giving us powerful new number systems and an understanding that now underpins the modern world - however weird that world may be!
In this new series, mathematician Dr Hannah Fry explores the mystery of maths. It underpins so much of our modern world that it’s hard to imagine life without its technological advances - but whe...re exactly does maths come from? Is it invented like a language or is it something discovered, part of the fabric of the universe. As we increasingly come to rely on maths this question becomes more important to answer. In this episode, Hannah explores a paradox at the heart of modern maths, discovered by Bertrand Russell, which undermines the very foundations of logic that all of maths is built on. These flaws suggest that maths isn’t a true part of the universe, but might just be a human language – fallible and imprecise. However, Hannah argues that Einstein’s theoretical equations, such as E=mc2 and his theory of General Relativity, are so good at predicting the universe that they must be reflecting some basic structure in it. It really seems that Einstein was discovering the maths behind our world. This idea is supported by Kurt Gödel who proved that there are parts of maths that we have to take on faith – we will never know how or why they are true. Hannah then explores what maths can reveal about the fundamental building blocks of the universe - the subatomic, quantum world – and she discovers that it really is much weirder than we might imagine. The maths tells us that particles can exist in two states at once, like a light being on and off at the same time, and yet quantum physics is at the core of photosynthesis, and therefore fundamental to most of life on earth. More vidence of discovering mathematical rules in nature. But if we accept that maths is part of the structure of the universe, there are two main problems: firstly, the two main theories that predict and describe the universe - Quantum Physics and General Relativity - are actually incompatible; and secondly, most of the maths behind them suggests the likelihood of something even weirder - multiple universes. We may just have to accept that the world really is weirder than we thought, and Hannah concludes that while we have invented the language of maths, the structure behind it all is something we discover. And beyond that, it is the debate about the origins of maths that has had the most profound consequences: it has truly transformed the human experience, giving us powerful new number systems and an understanding that now underpins the modern world - however weird that world may be!
| Series: | Magic Numbers: Hannah Fry's Mysterious World of Maths; Series 1 |
|---|---|
| Episode | 3 |
| First transmission date: | 24/10/2018 |
| Original broadcast channel: | BBC 4 |
| Published: | 2018 |
| Rights Statement: | Rights owned or controlled by The Open University |
| Restrictions on use: | This material can be used in accordance with The Open University conditions of use. A link to the conditions can be found at the bottom of all OUDA web pages. |
| Duration: | 00:58:47 |
| + Show more... | |
| Producer: | Windfall Films |
| Contributors: | Hannah Fry; John Bowling; Ivette Fuentes; Jim Gates; Brian Greene; Eleanor Knox; Hiranya Peiris |
| Publisher: | The Open University |
| Link to related site: | BBC web site: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0bptsd0 |
| Production number: | FKIE830E |
| Videofinder number: | 231917 |
| Available to public: | no |
