A Brief History of Mathematics

BBC Radio 4 Extra•www.bbc.co.uk

Professor of Mathematics Marcus du Sautoy reveals the personalities behind the calculations and argues that mathematics is the driving force behind modern science.

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Episodes

Nicolas Bourbaki

This ten part history of mathematics from Newton to the present day, reveals the personalities behind the calculations: the passions and rivalries of mathematicians struggling to get their ideas heard. Professor Marcus du Sautoy shows how these masters of abstraction find a role in the real world and proves that mathematics is the driving force behind modern science. Today, the mathematician that never was, Nicolas Bourbaki. A group of French mathematicians, working between the two world wars an...

Oct 01, 2010•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast

Hardy and Ramanujan

This ten part history of mathematics from Newton to the present day, reveals the personalities behind the calculations: the passions and rivalries of mathematicians struggling to get their ideas heard. Professor Marcus du Sautoy shows how these masters of abstraction find a role in the real world and proves that mathematics is the driving force behind modern science. Today, G.H.Hardy, the mathematician who insisted he had never done anything useful. And yet his work on the "diabolical malice" in...

Oct 01, 2010•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast

Henri Poincaré

This ten part history of mathematics from Newton to the present day, reveals the personalities behind the calculations: the passions and rivalries of mathematicians struggling to get their ideas heard. Professor Marcus du Sautoy shows how these masters of abstraction find a role in the real world and proves that mathematics is the driving force behind modern science. Today Henri Poincaré, the man who proved there are certain problems that mathematics will never be able to answer: a mathematical ...

Sep 30, 2010•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast

Georg Cantor

This ten part history of mathematics from Newton to the present day, reveals the personalities behind the calculations: the passions and rivalries of mathematicians struggling to get their ideas heard. Professor Marcus du Sautoy shows how these masters of abstraction find a role in the real world and proves that mathematics is the driving force behind modern science. Today, Georg Cantor, the mathematician who showed us how to carry on counting when the numbers run out. An insight into the nature...

Sep 30, 2010•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast

The Mathematicians Who Helped Einstein

This ten part history of mathematics from Newton to the present day, reveals the personalities behind the calculations: the passions and rivalries of mathematicians struggling to get their ideas heard. Professor Marcus du Sautoy shows how these masters of abstraction find a role in the real world and proves that mathematics is the driving force behind modern science. Today, the pioneering nineteenth century mathematicians who helped Albert Einstien with his maths: Jonas Bolyai, Nicolas Loachevsk...

Sep 29, 2010•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast

Carl Friedrich Gauss

Marcus du Sautoy argues that mathematics is the driving force behind modern science: German mathematician, Carl Friedrich Gaus. This ten part history of mathematics from Newton to the present day, reveals the personalities behind the calculations: the passions and rivalries of mathematicians struggling to get their ideas heard. Professor Marcus du Sautoy shows how these masters of abstraction find a role in the real world and proves that mathematics is the driving force behind modern science. It...

Sep 29, 2010•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast

Evariste Galois

Marcus du Sautoy argues that mathematics is the driving force behind modern science: mathematics during the French Revolution. This ten part history of mathematics from Newton to the present day, reveals the personalities behind the calculations: the passions and rivalries of mathematicians struggling to get their ideas heard. Professor Marcus du Sautoy shows how these masters of abstraction find a role in the real world and proves that mathematics is the driving force behind modern science. Tod...

Sep 28, 2010•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast

Joseph Fourier

Marcus du Sautoy argues that mathematics is the driving force behind modern science: Joseph Fourier’s insightful maths. This ten part history of mathematics from Newton to the present day, reveals the personalities behind the calculations: the passions and rivalries of mathematicians struggling to get their ideas heard. Professor Marcus du Sautoy shows how these masters of abstraction find a role in the real world and proves that mathematics is the driving force behind modern science. Today, the...

Sep 28, 2010•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast

Leonhard Euler

Marcus du Sautoy argues that mathematics is the driving force behind modern science: Leonhard Euler and an 18th-century puzzle. This ten-part history of mathematics reveals the personalities behind the calculations: the passions and rivalries of mathematicians struggling to get their ideas heard. Professor Marcus du Sautoy shows how these masters of abstraction find a role in the real world and proves that mathematics is the driving force behind modern science. Today, how the mathematics that Le...

Sep 27, 2010•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast

Newton and Leibniz

Marcus du Sautoy argues that mathematics is the driving force behind modern science: Newton, Leibniz and calculus. This ten-part history of mathematics reveals the personalities behind the calculations: the passions and rivalries of mathematicians struggling to get their ideas heard. Marcus du Sautoy shows how these masters of abstraction find a role in the real world and proves that mathematics is the driving force behind modern science. Today, the story of two late 17th century mathematicians ...

Sep 27, 2010•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast