Breaking Math Podcast
156 episodes - English - Latest episode: 11 days ago - ★★★★ - 316 ratingsHosted by Gabriel Hesch and Autumn Phaneuf, who have advanced degrees in EE and industrial engineering/operations research respectively, come together to discuss mathematics as a pure field al in its own as well as how it describes the language of science, engineering, and even creativity.
Breaking Math brings you the absolute best in interdisciplinary science discussions - bringing together experts in varying fields including artificial intelligence, neuroscience, evolutionary biology, physics, chemistry and materials-science, and more - to discuss where humanity is headed.
website: breakingmath.io
linktree: linktree.com/breakingmathmedia
email: [email protected]
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
102: The Intersection of Mathematics and Democracy
July 09, 2024 04:53 - 1 hour - 85.2 MBThis discussion Autumn and Gabe delves into Ismar Volic's personal background and inspiration for writing the book, “Making Democracy Count” as well as the practical and theoretical aspects of voting systems. Additionally, the conversation explores the application of voting systems to everyday decision-making and the use of topological data analysis in understanding societal polarization. The conversation covers a wide range of topics, including data visualization, gerrymandering, electoral ...
Math Lounge: Celebrating 101 Episodes
July 02, 2024 04:16 - 47 minutes - 65.5 MBIn this conversation, Gabe and Autumn celebrate the 101st episode of Breaking Math and discuss the evolution of the podcast. They highlight the importance of creativity in teaching mathematics and share their plans to expand Breaking Math into Breaking Math Media. They also discuss the history of physics and the big questions that inform the podcast. The hosts express their desire to collaborate with listeners and explore practical applications of math in different fields. They also mention ...
100: Creating Inclusive Spaces for LGBTQIA+ in STEM
June 25, 2024 04:43 - 1 hour - 103 MBIn this episode Autumn is joined by Erika Lynn Dawson Head, the Executive Director of Diversity and Inclusive Community Development for the Manning College of Information and Computer Sciences, discusses her role in STEM, mentorship, and community building. The conversation dives into allyship, LGBTQ+ support, and the challenges of creating safe and inclusive spaces in STEM and higher education. The discussion also explores the intersectionality of identities and the importance of recognizin...
Minisode: Absolutely Nothing
June 18, 2024 04:00 - 19 minutes - 26.8 MBIn this episode of Breaking Math, Autumn and Gabe explore the concept of nothingness and its significance in various fields. They discuss the philosophical, scientific, mathematical, and literary aspects of nothingness, highlighting its role in understanding reality and existence. They mention books like 'Incomplete Nature' by Terence Deacon and 'Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea' by Charles Seife, which delve into the concept of absence and zero. The episode concludes by emphasizing t...
99 (Part II) Math in Drag: Interview with OnlineKyne
June 11, 2024 10:00 - 27 minutes - 38.3 MBSummary This episode is an interview with OnlineKyne, the author of the book Math in Drag. The conversation focuses on how to be an effective online educator and covers various topics in mathematics, including Cantor's infinite sets, probability, and statistics. The interview also delves into the process of writing the book and highlights the connection between math and drag. The chapters in the conversation cover the journey of a content creator, tips for science content creators, the conc...
98. Math in Drag: An Episode with Math Educator Kyne Santos
June 04, 2024 17:03 - 27 minutes - 38.4 MBSummary In this conversation, Gabriel Hesch interviews Kyne Santos, an online creator who combines art, music, and performance in math education. They discuss the intersection of math and music, the controversy surrounding math and drag, and the creative side of math. They also explore topics such as topology, mathematical shapes, and influential books in math. The conversation highlights the importance of challenging traditional definitions and finding new and innovative ways to engage wit...
97: (Part 2) Can We Survive on Mars? Hot Tips with Zach Weinersmith
May 28, 2024 04:19 - 34 minutes - 47 MBIn this conversation, Autumn Phaneuf interviews Zach Weinersmith, a cartoonist and writer, about the feasibility and implications of space settlement. They discuss the challenges and misconceptions surrounding space colonization, including the idea that it will make us rich, mitigate war, and make us wiser. They explore the potential of the moon and Mars as settlement options, as well as the concept of rotating space stations. They also touch on the physiological effects of space travel and ...
97: Can We Survive on Mars? Hot tips with Zach Weinersmith
May 21, 2024 06:20 - 32 minutes - 45 MBIn this conversation, Autumn Phaneuf and Zach Weinersmith discusses his new book, A City on Mars, which takes a humorous look at the challenges of building a Martian society. He explores the misconceptions and myths surrounding space settlement and the feasibility of colonizing Mars. He argues that space is unlikely to make anyone rich and that the idea that space will mitigate war is unsupported. He also discusses the potential benefits and limitations of settling on the Moon and Mars, as w...
96: Can We Survive on Mars? Hot Tips with Zach Weinersmith
May 21, 2024 06:20 - 32 minutes - 45 MBIn this conversation, Autumn Phaneuf and Zach Weinersmith discusses his new book, A City on Mars, which takes a humorous look at the challenges of building a Martian society. He explores the misconceptions and myths surrounding space settlement and the feasibility of colonizing Mars. He argues that space is unlikely to make anyone rich and that the idea that space will mitigate war is unsupported. He also discusses the potential benefits and limitations of settling on the Moon and Mars, as w...
96: Can We Survive on Mars? Hot tips with Zach Weinersmith
May 21, 2024 06:20 - 32 minutes - 45 MBIn this conversation, Autumn Phaneuf and Zach Weinersmith discusses his new book, A City on Mars, which takes a humorous look at the challenges of building a Martian society. He explores the misconceptions and myths surrounding space settlement and the feasibility of colonizing Mars. He argues that space is unlikely to make anyone rich and that the idea that space will mitigate war is unsupported. He also discusses the potential benefits and limitations of settling on the Moon and Mars, as w...
What's the Use? Interview with Professor Ian Stewart
May 14, 2024 10:00 - 44 minutes - 60.5 MBWelcome to another engaging episode of the Breaking Math Podcast! Today's episode, titled "What is the Use?," features a fascinating conversation with the renowned mathematician and author, Professor Ian Stewart. As Professor Stewart discusses his latest book "What's the Use? How Mathematics Shapes Everyday Life," we dive deep into the real-world applications of mathematics that often go unnoticed in our daily technologies, like smartphones, and their unpredictable implications in various fi...
95: Baye's Theorem Explains It All: An Interview with Tom Chivers
May 07, 2024 10:26 - 49 minutes - 67.7 MBSummary Tom Chivers discusses his book 'Everything is Predictable: How Bayesian Statistics Explain Our World' and the applications of Bayesian statistics in various fields. He explains how Bayesian reasoning can be used to make predictions and evaluate the likelihood of hypotheses. Chivers also touches on the intersection of AI and ethics, particularly in relation to AI-generated art. The conversation explores the history of Bayes' theorem and its role in science, law, and medicine. Overall...
95: Bayes' Theorem Explains It All: An Interview with Tom Chivers
May 07, 2024 10:26 - 49 minutes - 67.7 MBSummary Tom Chivers discusses his book 'Everything is Predictable: How Bayesian Statistics Explain Our World' and the applications of Bayesian statistics in various fields. He explains how Bayesian reasoning can be used to make predictions and evaluate the likelihood of hypotheses. Chivers also touches on the intersection of AI and ethics, particularly in relation to AI-generated art. The conversation explores the history of Bayes' theorem and its role in science, law, and medicine. Overall...
94. Interview with Steve Nadis, Co-author of 'Gravity of Math'
April 30, 2024 10:00 - 52 minutes - 72.3 MBSummary **Tensor Poster - If you are interested in the Breaking Math Tensor Poster on the mathematics of General Relativity, email us at [email protected] In this episode, Gabriel Hesch and Autumn Phaneuf interview Steve Nadis, the author of the book 'The Gravity of Math.' They discuss the mathematics of gravity, including the work of Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein, gravitational waves, black holes, and recent developments in the field. Nadis shares his collaboration with Shi...
93. The 10,000 Year Problem (feat. David Gibson of Ray Kitty Creation Workship)
April 23, 2024 10:00 - 34 minutes - 47.7 MBSummary: The episode discusses the 10,000 year dilemma, which is a thought experiment on how to deal with nuclear waste in the future. Today's episode is hosted by guest host David Gibson, who is the founder of the Ray Kitty Creation Workshop. (Find out more about the Ray Kitty Creation Workshop by clicking here). Gabriel and Autumn are out this week, but will be returning in short order with 3 separate interviews with authors of some fantastic popular science and math books including: ...
92. The Mathematical Heart of Games Explored with Prof. du Sautoy
April 16, 2024 11:00 - 1 hour - 102 MBAn interview with Prof. Marcus du Sautoy about his book Around the Wold in Eighty Games . . . .a Mathematician Unlocks the Secrets of the World's Greatest Games. Topics covered in Today's Episode: 1. Introduction to Professor Marcus du Sautoy and the Role of Games - Impact of games on culture, strategy, and learning - The educational importance of games throughout history 2. Differences in gaming cultures across regions like India and China 3. Creative Aspects of Mathematics 4. The...
91. Brain Organelles, AI, and Other Scary Science - An Interview with GT (Part 2)
April 04, 2024 12:58 - 31 minutes - 42.7 MBSummary Brain Organelles, A.I. and Defining Intelligence in Nature- In this episode, we continue our fascinating interview with GT, a science content creator on TikTok and YouTube known for their captivating - and sometimes disturbing science content. GT can be found on the handle ‘@bearBaitOfficial’ on most social media channels. In this episode, we resume our discussion on Brain Organelles - which are grown from human stem cells - how they are being used to learn about disease, h...
90. The LEAN Theorem Prover for Chemistry and Physics Modeling
March 16, 2024 23:42 - 49 minutes - 22.4 MBVisit the Breaking Math Website here Email us at [email protected] for copies of the transcript This episode reviewed the article Formalizing chemical physics using the Lean theorem prover with the journal Digital Discovery, a journal with the Royal Society of Chemistry. The website for Digital Discovery can be found here Special thanks to the editorial staff at Digital Discovery for answering our countless emails asking questions about this article as well as their mission...
90. How the LEAN Theorem Prover can be used in Physics and Chemistry modeling
March 16, 2024 23:42 - 46 minutes - 42.9 MBVisit the Breaking Math Website here Email us at [email protected] for copies of the transcript This episode reviewed the article Formalizing chemical physics using the Lean theorem prover with the journal Digital Discovery, a journal with the Royal Society of Chemistry. The website for Digital Discovery can be found here Special thanks to the editorial staff at Digital Discovery for answering our countless emails asking questions about this article as well as their mission...
90. LEAN Theorem Provers used to model Physics and Chemistry
March 16, 2024 23:42 - 47 minutes - 65.2 MBThis episode is inspired by a correspondence the Breaking Math Podcast had with the editors of Digital Discovery, a journal by the Royal Society of Chemistry. In this episode the hosts review a paper about how the Lean Interactive Theorem Prover, which is usually used as a tool in creating mathemtics proofs, can be used to create rigorous and robust models in physics and chemistry. Also - we have a brand new member of the Breaking Math Team! This episode is the debut episode for Autumn...
89. Brain Organelles, AI, and the Other Scary Science - An Interview with GT (Part I)
March 05, 2024 11:00 - 30 minutes - 41.3 MBThis conversation explores the topic of brain organoids and their integration with robots. The discussion covers the development and capabilities of brain organoids, the ethical implications of their use, and the differences between sentience and consciousness. The conversation also delves into the efficiency of human neural networks compared to artificial neural networks, the presence of sleep in brain organoids, and the potential for genetic memories in these structures. The episode conclu...
88. Can OpenAi's SORA learn and model real-world physics? (Part 1 of n)
February 27, 2024 17:14 - 34 minutes - 47.2 MBThis is a follow up on our previous episode on OpenAi's SORA. We attempt to answer the question, "Can OpenAi's SORA model real-world physics?" We go over the details of the technical report, we discuss some controversial opinoins by experts in the field at Nvdia and Google's Deep Mind. The transcript for episode is avialable below upon request. Help Support The Podcast by clicking on the links below: Try out ZenCastr: Use my special link ZenCastr Discount to save 30% off your first ...
87. OpenAi SORA, Physics-Informed ML, and a.i. Fraud- Oh My!
February 20, 2024 22:43 - 36 minutes - 50.7 MBOpenAI's Sora, a text-to-video model, has the ability to generate realistic and imaginative scenes based on text prompts. This conversation explores the capabilities, limitations, and safety concerns of Sora. It showcases various examples of videos generated by Sora, including pirate ships battling in a cup of coffee, woolly mammoths in a snowy meadow, and golden retriever puppies playing in the snow. The conversation also discusses the technical details of Sora, such as its use of diffusion...
86. Math, Music, and Artificial Intelligence - Levi McClain Interview (Final Part)
February 18, 2024 22:33 - 28 minutes - 38.5 MBHelp Support The Podcast by clicking on the links below: Try out ZenCastr w/ 30% Discount Use my special link to save 30% off your first month of any Zencastr paid plan Patreon YouTube Transcripts are available upon request. Email us at [email protected] Follow us on X (Twitter) Follow us on Social Media Pages (Linktree) Visit our guest Levi McClain's Pages: youtube.com/@LeviMcClain levimcclain.com/ Summary Levi McClean discusses various topics related to music, so...
85. Math, Music, Neuroscience, and Fear - an Interview with Musician Levi McClain
February 13, 2024 11:00 - 33 minutes - 46 MBWe are joined today by content creator Levi McClain to discuss the mathematics behind music theory, neuroscience, and human experiences such as fear as they relate to audio processing. For a copy of the episode transcript, email us at [email protected]. For more in depth discussions on these topics and more, check out Levi's channels at: Patreon.com/LeviMcClain youtube.com/@LeviMcClain Tiktok.com/@levimcclain Instagram.com/levimcclainmusic Help Support The Podcast by c...
84. (Part 2) Intelligence in Nature v. Machine Learning - an Interview with Brit Cruise
February 06, 2024 11:00 - 45 minutes - 62.6 MBHelp Support The Podcast by clicking on the links below: Start YOUR podcast on ZenCastr! Use my special link ZenCastr Discount to save 30% off your first month of any Zencastr paid plan Visit our Patreon Part 2/2 of the interview with Brit Cruise, creator of the YouTube channel "Art of the Problem," about interesting mathematics,, electrical and computer engineering problems. In Part 1, we explored what 'intelligence' may be defined as by looking for examples of brains and proto-bra...
Intelligence in Nature v. Machine Learning-An Interview with Brit Cruise - Part 1 of 2
January 30, 2024 11:00 - 37 minutes - 34.6 MBIn this episode (part 1 of 2), I interview Brit Cruise, creator of the YouTube channel 'Art of the Problem.' On his channel, he recently released the video "ChatGPT: 30 Year History | How AI learned to talk." We discuss examples of intelligence in nature and what is required in order for a brain to evolve at the most basic level. We use these concepts to discuss what artificial intelligence - such as Chat GPT - both is and is not.
83. Intelligence in Nature v. Machine Learning-An Interview with Brit Cruise - Part 1 of 2
January 30, 2024 11:00 - 36 minutes - 50.3 MBIn this episode (part 1 of 2), I interview Brit Cruise, creator of the YouTube channel 'Art of the Problem.' On his channel, he recently released the video "ChatGPT: 30 Year History | How AI learned to talk." We discuss examples of intelligence in nature and what is required in order for a brain to evolve at the most basic level. We use these concepts to discuss what artificial intelligence - such as Chat GPT - both is and is not. Help Support The Podcast by clicking on the links below: St...
A.I. and Materials Discovery - an Interview with Taylor Sparks
January 21, 2024 19:05 - 18 minutes - 25.6 MBHelp Support The Podcast by clicking on the links below: Start YOUR podcast on ZenCastr! Use my special link ZenCastr Discount to save 30% off your first month of any Zencastr paid plan Visit our Patreon How is Machine Learning being used to further original scientific discoveries? Transcripts of this episode are avialable upon request. Email us at [email protected]. In this episode Gabriel Hesch interviews Taylor Sparks, a professor of material science and engineerin...
82. A.I. and Materials Discovery - an Interview with Taylor Sparks
January 21, 2024 19:05 - 17 minutes - 24.2 MBTranscripts of this episode are avialable upon request. Email us at [email protected]. In this episode Gabriel Hesch interviews Taylor Sparks, a professor of material science and engineering, about his recent paper on the use of generative modeling a.i. for material disovery. The paper is published in the journal Digital Discovery and is titled 'Generative Adversarial Networks and Diffusion MOdels in Material Discovery. They discuss the purpose of the call, the process of gen...
In Memory of Sofia Baca, Cofounder and cohost of Breaking Math
January 11, 2024 21:44 - 48 minutes - 66.3 MBIn October of 2023, Sofia Baca passed away unexpectedly from natural causes. Sofia was one of the founders and cohosts of the Breaking Math Podcast. In this episode, host Gabriel Hesch interviews Diane Baca, mother of Sofia Baca as we talk about her passions for creativity, mathematics, science, and discovering what it means to be human. Sofia lived an exceptional life with explosive creativity, a voracious passion for mathematics, physics, computer science, and creativity. Sofia also strug...
81: Correct. Now Try Again (Multiple Approaches to the Same Problem)
July 24, 2023 04:32 - 37 minutes - 51.7 MBJoin Sofía Baca and her guests, the host and co-host of the Nerd Forensics podcast, Millicent Oriana and Jacob Urban, as they explore what it means to be able to solve one problem in multiple ways. This episode is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. For full text, visit: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ [Featuring: Sofía Baca; Millicent Oriana, Jacob Urban[ Help Support The Podcast by clicking on the links below: Try out Z...
80: Physical Dimension (Dimensional Analysis)
June 26, 2023 21:51 - 35 minutes - 48.9 MBThe history of mathematics, in many ways, begins with counting. Things that needed, initially, to be counted were, and often still are, just that; things. We can say we have twelve tomatoes, or five friends, or that eleven days have passed. As society got more complex, tools that had been used since time immemorial, such as string and scales, became essential tools for counting not only concrete things, like sheep and bison, but more abstract things, such as distance and weight based on agre...
79: 1 2 3 (Counting)
June 08, 2023 12:45 - 47 minutes - 65 MBHelp Support The Podcast by clicking on the links below: Try out ZenCastr w/ 30% DiscountUse my special link to save 30% off your first month of any Zencastr paid plan Patreon YouTube Breaking Math WebsiteEmail us for copies of the transcript! Join Sofia Baca and Nerd Forensics co-host Jacob Urban as they discuss all things counting! Counting is the first arithmetic concept we learn, and we typically learn to do so during early childhood. Counting is the basis of arithmetic. Bef...
78: Perpetual Notion (Entropy and Thermodynamics)
May 09, 2023 15:41 - 31 minutes - 43.9 MBAs you listen to this episode, you'll be exerting mental effort, as well as maybe exerting effort doing other things. The energy allowing your neurons to continually charge and discharge, as well as exert mechanical energy in your muscles and chemical energy in places like your liver and kidneys, came from the food you ate. Specifically, it came from food you chewed, and then digested with acid and with the help of symbiotic bacteria. And even if that food you're eating is meat, you can trac...
77: An Interview with Christopher Roblesz of MathNMore
February 28, 2023 20:44 - 55 minutes - 75.6 MBChristopher Roblesz is a math educator who, until the pandemic, worked as a teacher. It was his experiences during the pandemic, and his unwavering passion for preparing disadvantaged youth for STEM careers, that eventually led him to developing mathnmore, a company focused on providing an enriched educational experience for sstudents who are preparing for these careers.More on energy and entropy next time!All of this and more on this interview episode of Breaking Math! [Featuring: Sofia Ba...
76: Joule Pay for This! (Energy)
January 15, 2023 01:05 - 1 hour - 91.3 MBJoin Sofia Baca and her guests Millicent Oriana from Nerd Forensics and Arianna Lunarosa as they discuss energy. The sound that you're listening to, the device that you're listening on, and the cells in both the ear you're using to listen and the brain that understands these words have at least one thing in common: they represent the consumption or transference of energy. The same goes for your eyes if you're reading a transcript of this. The waves in the ears are pressure waves, while eyes...
75: Existential Physics with Sabine Hossenfelder (Author Interview)
October 13, 2022 06:30 - 41 minutes - 57 MBAn interview with Dr. Sabine Hossenfelder about her second book Existential Physics. Sabine is host of the famous youtube show Science with Sabine.
74: Lights, Camera, Action! (3D Computer Graphics: Part I)
June 19, 2022 00:39 - 42 minutes - 59.1 MBThe world around us is a four-dimensional world; there are three spatial dimensions, and one temporal dimension. Many of these objects emit an almost unfathomable number of photons. As we developed as creatures on this planet, we gathered the ability to sense the world around us; and given the amount of information represented as photons, it is no surprise that we developed an organ for sensing photons. But because of the amount of photons that are involved, and our relatively limited comput...
73: Materialism: a Material Science Podcast Podcast Episode (Interview with Taylor Sparks)
May 28, 2022 18:58 - 55 minutes - 76.6 MBPhysical objects are everywhere, and they're all made out of molecules, and atoms. However, the arrangement and refinement of these atoms can be the difference between a computer and sand, or between a tree and paper. For a species as reliant on tool use, the ability to conceieve of, design, create, and produce these materials is an ongoing concern. Since we've been around as humans, and even before, we have been material scientists in some regard, searching for new materials to make things ...
72: The Lifestyles of the Mathematical and Famous (an Interview with Author Robert Black)
May 15, 2022 22:49 - 50 minutes - 69.6 MBRobert Black is an author who has written a six-book series about seven influential mathematicians, their lives, and their work. We interview him and his books, and take a peek into the lives of these influential mathematicians. Addendum: Hey Breaking Math fans, I just wanted to let y'all know that the second material science podcast is delayed. [Featuring: Sofía Baca; Robert Black]
71: What's the Matter? An Interview with Chris Cogswell of the Mad Scientist Podcast (Material Science)
April 12, 2022 04:25 - 55 minutes - 76.8 MBMatter is that which takes up space, and has mass. It is what we interact with, and what we are. Imagining a world without matter is to imagine light particles drifting aimlessly in space. Gasses, liquids, solids, and plasmas are all states of matter. Material science studies all of these, and their combinations and intricacies, found in examining foams, gels, meshes, and other materials and metamaterials. Chris Cogswell is a material scientist, and host of The Mad Scientist Podcast, a podcas...
70.1: Episode 70.1 of Breaking Math Podcast (Self-Reference)
March 20, 2022 06:54 - 46 minutes - 64.1 MBSeldom do we think about self-reference, but it is a huge part of the world we live in. Every time that we say 'myself', for instance, we are engaging in self-reference. Long ago, the Liar Paradox and the Golden Ratio were among the first formal examples of self-reference. Freedom to refer to the self has given us fruitful results in mathematics and technology. Recursion, for example, is used in algorithms such as PageRank, which is one of the primary algorithms in Google's search engine. El...
70: This Episode Intentionally Left Blank
March 19, 2022 20:00 - 46 minutes - 63.2 MBThis episode description intentionally left blank! As in completely on purpose. Fun Fact! The creators of the Breaking Math Podcast, Sofia and Gabriel always thought it was funny that many books that we've read - even going back to our childhood - had a page in it with the sentence printed, "This Page Intentionally Left Blank." Like- okay; what does this 'intentionally left blank page' add to the reading experience? Does anyone know? Oh look here! There is a wikipedia page on it. ...
Season 4 Announcement (and a Rerun of Forbidden Formulas)
February 20, 2022 18:39 - 1 hour - 85 MBHello, listeners! This is Sofia with an announcement. Season 4 is about to start, and we have some great episodes planned. The last few weeks have been busy for us in our personal lives, and we apologize for our spotty release schedule lately. We're excited to bring you more of the content you've grown to love. Today, we're going to have a rerun of our first episode on. This episode is a little rough at points, but we're choosing to rerun it because it captures the spirit of the podcast so el...
Rerun of P1: Peano Addition
January 27, 2022 12:59 - 35 minutes - 49.4 MBOn this problem episode, join Sofía and guest Diane Baca to learn about what an early attempt to formalize the natural numbers has to say about whether or not m+n equals n+m. [Featuring: Sofía Baca; Diane Baca] --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/breakingmathpodcast/support
69: An Interview with Michael Brooks, Author of "The Art of More: How Mathematics Created Civilization"
January 23, 2022 20:32 - 1 hour - 85.5 MBMichael Brooks is a science writer who specializes in making difficult concepts easier to grasp. In his latest book, Brooks goes through several mathematical concepts and discusses their motivation, history, and discovery. So how do stories make it easier to learn? What are some of the challenges associated with conveying difficult concepts to the general public? And who, historically, has been a mathematician? All of this and more on this episode of Breaking Math. Songs were Breaking Math ...
P12: O My God (Big O Notation)
January 04, 2022 18:51 - 22 minutes - 31.5 MBThere are times in mathematics when we are generalizing the behavior of many different, but similar, entities. One such time that this happens is the use cases of Big O notation, which include describing the long-term behavior of functions, and talking about how accurate numerical calculations are. On this problem episode, we are going to discuss Big O notation and how to use it. This episode is licensed by Sofia Baca under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike-NonCommercial 4.0 Interna...
68: LOL!!! SO RANDOM (Random Variables)
December 23, 2021 06:47 - 34 minutes - 46.9 MBThe world is often uncertain, but it has only been in the last half millennium that we've found ways to interact mathematically with that concept. From its roots in death statistics, insurance, and gambling to modern Bayesian networks and machine learning, we've seen immense productivity in this field. Every way of looking at probability has something in common: the use of random variables. Random variables let us talk about events with uncertain outcomes in a concrete way. So what are rando...
67: Wrath of Math (Mathematics Used Unwisely)
December 09, 2021 16:16 - 23 minutes - 32.8 MBMathematics is a subject that has been used for great things over time: it has helped people grow food, design shelter, and in every part of life. It should be, then, no surprise that sometimes mathematics is used for evil; that is to say, there are times where mathematics is used to either implement or justify regressive things like greed, racism, classism, and even genocide. So when has math been used for destructive purposes? What makes us mis-apply mathematics? And why can oversimplificat...