Episodes

Cover image for Is Mathematics Invented or Discovered?

Mathematics describes the real world of atoms and acorns, stars and stairs, with remarkable precision. So is mathematics invented by humans-like chisels and hammers and...

video

Is Mathematics Invented or Discovered?

Episode 09

Season 04

26:46

Watch

Topic Series

16 items

Mathematics describes the real world of atoms and acorns, stars and stairs, with remarkable precision. So is mathematics invented by humans just like chisels and hammers and...

playlist

Is Mathematics Invented or Discovered?

Topic Series

9 videos

1:34:28

Watch

Cover image for Is Mathematics Eternal? (Part 1)

Mathematics is like nothing else. The truths of math seem to be unrelated to anything else—independent of human beings, independent of the universe. The sum of 2 + 3 = 5...

playlist

Is Mathematics Eternal? (Part 1)

Topic Series

7 videos

47:10

Watch

Cover image for Is Mathematics Eternal? (Part 2)

Mathematics is like nothing else. The truths of math seem to be unrelated to anything else—independent of human beings, independent of the universe. The sum of 2 + 3 = 5...

playlist

Is Mathematics Eternal? (Part 2)

Topic Series

5 videos

42:30

Watch

Cover image for What are Breakthroughs in Mathematics? (Part 1)

What is the nature of mathematical breakthroughs? What are common characteristics among diverse mathematical fields? What are specific signs of mathematical breakthroughs?...

playlist

What are Breakthroughs in Mathematics? (Part 1)

Topic Series

6 videos

44:00

Watch

Cover image for What are Breakthroughs in Mathematics? (Part 2)

What is the nature of mathematical breakthroughs? What are common characteristics among diverse mathematical fields? What are specific signs of mathematical breakthroughs?...

playlist

What are Breakthroughs in Mathematics? (Part 2)

Topic Series

7 videos

57:49

Watch

Cover image for How is Mathematics Truth and Beauty? (Part 1)

Why do mathematicians talk about “truth” and “beauty” in their creative work? How to define “truth” and “beauty” in a mathematical context? How do these...

playlist

How is Mathematics Truth and Beauty? (Part 1)

Topic Series

6 videos

54:26

Watch

Cover image for How is Mathematics Truth and Beauty? (Part 2)

Why do mathematicians talk about “truth” and “beauty” in their creative work? How to define “truth” and “beauty” in a mathematical context? How do these...

playlist

How is Mathematics Truth and Beauty? (Part 2)

Topic Series

44:01

Watch

Cover image for How is Mathematics Truth and Beauty? (Part 3)

Why do mathematicians talk about “truth” and “beauty” in their creative work? How to define “truth” and “beauty” in a mathematical context? How do these...

playlist

How is Mathematics Truth and Beauty? (Part 3)

Topic Series

4 videos

28:24

Watch

Cover image for Why the ‘Unreasonable Effectiveness’ of Mathematics? (Part 1)

In 1960, the physicist Eugene Wigner published an article, “The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences,” which has attracted great...

playlist

Why the ‘Unreasonable Effectiveness’ of Mathematics? (Part 1)

Topic Series

6 videos

54:51

Watch

Cover image for Why the ‘Unreasonable Effectiveness’ of Mathematics? (Part 2)

In 1960, the physicist Eugene Wigner published an article, “The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences,” which has attracted great...

playlist

Why the ‘Unreasonable Effectiveness’ of Mathematics? (Part 2)

Topic Series

5 videos

44:29

Watch

Cover image for Why the ‘Unreasonable Effectiveness’ of Mathematics? (Part 3)

In 1960, the physicist Eugene Wigner published an article, “The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences,” which has attracted great...

playlist

Why the ‘Unreasonable Effectiveness’ of Mathematics? (Part 3)

Topic Series

6 videos

44:57

Watch

Cover image for What's the Deep Meaning of Probability? (Part 1)

Is probability a deep probe of how the world works at fundamental levels? Or is probability merely a tool of human perception in trying to discern what is true and what is...

playlist

What's the Deep Meaning of Probability? (Part 1)

Topic Series

6 videos

49:38

Watch

Cover image for What's the Deep Meaning of Probability? (Part 2)

Is probability a deep probe of how the world works at fundamental levels? Or is probability merely a tool of human perception in trying to discern what is true and what is...

playlist

What's the Deep Meaning of Probability? (Part 2)

Topic Series

6 videos

37:41

Watch

Cover image for What’s the Deep Meaning of Probability? (Part 3)

Is probability a deep probe of how the world works at fundamental levels? Or is probability merely a tool of human perception in trying to discern what is true and what is...

playlist

What’s the Deep Meaning of Probability? (Part 3)

Topic Series

6 videos

46:21

Watch

Cover image for Why Do Power Laws Work so Widely? (Part 1)

Power laws relate diverse quantities in a defined numerical way, such that a change in one is associated with a change in the other according to specific formulas or...

playlist

Why Do Power Laws Work so Widely? (Part 1)

Topic Series

5 videos

46:03

Watch

Cover image for Why Do Power Laws Work so Widely? (Part 2)

Power laws relate diverse quantities in a defined numerical way, such that a change in one is associated with a change in the other according to specific formulas or...

playlist

Why Do Power Laws Work so Widely? (Part 2)

Topic Series

6 videos

54:55

Watch

Contributors

31 items

Scott Aaronson

Professor of Computer Science; Director, Quantum Information Center, University of Texas at Austin

Mark Balaguer

Professor of Philosophy, California State University, Los Angeles

Gregory Benford

Professor Emeritus of Physics and Astronomy, UC Irvine; Science fiction author

Gregory Chaitin

Professor, Universidad de Buenos Aires; Mathematician (Emeritus), IBM

Aaron Clauset

Professor of Computer Science, University of Colorado Boulder

Ivan Corwin

Professor of Mathematics, Columbia University

Paul Davies

Regents' Professor, Arizona State University

Robbert Dijkgraaf

Minister of Education, Culture and Science, Netherlands; forrner Director, Institute for Advanced Study

Leon Glass

Meritus Professor and the Isadore Rosenfeld Chair in Cardiology, McGill University

David Gross

Nobel Laueate in Physics; Chancellor's Chair Professor of Theoretical Physics, UC Santa Barbara

Michael Hopkins

Professor of Mathematics, Harvard University

Stuart Kauffman

Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry, Univesity of Pennsylvania; Santa Fe Institute

Leonard Mlodinow

Physicist and author

Roger Penrose

Nobel Prize in Physics; Professor Emeritus of Mathematics, University of Oxford

Max Tegmark

Professor of Physics, MIT

Karen Uhlenbeck

Professor Emeritus of Mathematics, University of Texas at Austin

Licia Verde

Professor of Physics and Astronomy, University of Barcelona

Steven Weinberg

Nobel Laureate in Physics; Professor Emeritus, University of Texas at Austin

Geoffrey West

Distinguished Professor and former President, Santa Fe Institute

Frank Wilczek

Nobel Laureate in Physics; Templeton Prize recipient; Emeritus Professor of Physics, MIT; Distinguished Professor in Physics, Arizona State University

Edward Witten

Charles Simonyi Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Institute for Advanced Study

Stephen Wolfram

Founder and CEO, Wolfram Research

Like this? Share it!

Mathematics as Fundamental?

Episodes

Is Mathematics Invented or Discovered?

Topic Series

Is Mathematics Invented or Discovered?

Is Mathematics Eternal? (Part 1)

Is Mathematics Eternal? (Part 2)

Contributors

Scott Aaronson

Mark Balaguer

Gregory Benford

Gregory Chaitin