Episode description

Math is boring, says the mathematician and comedian Matt Parker.

Part of the problem may be the way the subject is taught, but it's also true that we all, to a greater or lesser extent, find math difficult and counterintuitive. This counterintuitiveness is actually part of the point, argues Parker: the extraordinary thing about math is that it allows us to access logic and ideas beyond what our brains can instinctively do―through its logical tools, we are able to reach beyond our innate abilities and grasp more and more abstract concepts.

In his book, “Things to Make and Do in the Fourth Dimension”, Parker sets out to convince his readers to revisit the very math that put them off the subject as schoolchildren. Starting with the foundations of math familiar from school, he takes us on a grand tour, from four dimensional shapes, knot theory, the mysteries of prime numbers, optimization algorithms, and the math behind barcodes and iPhone screens to the different kinds of infinity―and slightly beyond.

Originally published in December of 2014.

Visit http://youtube.com/TalksAtGoogle/ to watch the video.