Magic Numbers: Hannah Fry's Mysterious World of Maths
Magic Numbers: Hannah Fry's Mysterious World of Maths is a BBC documentary series presented by Dr. Hannah Fry, exploring the mystery of maths. Mathematics underpins so much of our modern world that it's hard to imagine life without its technological advances, but where exactly does maths come from? Is it invented like a language or is it something discovered and part of the fabric of the universe? It's a question that some of the most eminent mathematical minds have been wrestling with.
| Episode 1 - Numbers as God |
Episode 1 - Numbers as God
Dr. Hannah Fry goes back to the time of the ancient Greeks to find out why they were so fascinated by the connection between beautiful music and maths. The patterns our ancestors found in music are all around us, from the way a sunflower stores its seeds to the number of petals in a flower.
Episode 2 - Expanded Horizons
Dr. Hannah Fry travels down the fastest zip wire in the world to learn more about Newton's ideas on gravity. His discoveries revealed the movement of the planets was regular and predictable.
Episode 3 - Weirder and Weirder
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.
| Related Links |
| Magic Numbers - Open University In this three-part series presented by Dr. Hannah Fry, join her on a journey through the evolution of maths from its philosophical origins to its status as a universal language and the foundation for all of science. |
| The Story of Maths This is a BBC documentary series written and presented by Marcus du Sautoy, outlining aspects of the history of mathematics. |
| Great Mathematicians, Great Mathematics This is a series of lectures to look at the personality and some of the work of a number of famous mathematicians and then discuss more recent developments and applications. |
| The Code This is a BBC documentary series presented by Professor Marcus du Sautoy, revealing a hidden numerical code that underpins all nature. |
| How Mathematicians Think About Patterns This talk explores some basic ideas about symmetry, and shows how it helps us to understand patterns in nature. |
| The Beauty of Diagrams This is a BBC documentary series presented by Professor Marcus du Sautoy, exploring the stories behind some of the most familiar scientific diagrams. |