Skip to content
How to think like a mathematician episode artwork

Mar 4, 2023 42 min

How to think like a mathematician

from The Infinite Monkey Cage Hosted by BBC Radio 4

Brian Cox and Robin Ince are joined by comedian Jo Brand, mathematicians Prof Hannah Fry and Dr Eugenia Cheng, and xkcd webcomic creator Randall Munroe to discover how thinking like a mathematician could solve some tricky everyday conundrums. From the optimal strategy to finding your true love, to how to fix a wonky table in the pub, thinking like a mathematician can help you in some very unlikely situations. They discover how mathematical thinking can help answer some truly out of this world questions as well: how much soup would it take to fill the solar system? What would happen if you shrank Jupiter to the size of a house? Not problems we'd encounter in everyday life maybe, but all questions sent to Randall Munroe for his "What If?" series of books. At first glance the questions may seem impossible, but, as it turns out, maths and physics can provide an answer to these headscratchers, as the panel discover. Executive Producer: Alexandra Feachem

Episode details come from the podcast's RSS feed.

Embed this episode

Ready to play

How to think like a mathematician

0:00 42:35

No transcript yet.

Requests help us decide what to transcribe next.

Frequently asked questions

How long is this episode of The Infinite Monkey Cage?

This episode is 42 minutes long.

When was this The Infinite Monkey Cage episode published?

This episode was published on March 4, 2023.

Can I download this The Infinite Monkey Cage episode?

Yes. Use the download control on the episode player to save the publisher-provided media file.