Infinite Horizons: The Legacy of Maryam Mirzakhani

Welcome to another episode of podcasts of the Women's Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran. So imagine you were trying to solve a puzzle, but, the pieces are just constantly shifting and twisting around. Yeah. That sounds like an absolute nightmare. Right. I mean, for most of us, yes. But for a young girl in Tehran named Maryam Mirzakhani, that was really just the beginning of a story. So in today's deep dive, we're looking at sources that explore how she completely reshaped our understanding of the infinite. And proved once and for all that brilliance absolutely knows no gender and no borders.Exactly. Which is such a powerful takeaway. So let's jump right in. Born in Tehran in 1977, she wasn't actually obsessed with numbers at first. Right?No. Not at all. She actually wanted to be a writer. She attended Farzanigan High School and she didn't abandon that creative storytelling mindset. She just sort of, applied it to mathematics instead.Which completely flips how we usually think about the subject. I mean if you're listening right now and picturing a teenager just memorizing rigid formulas, you need to throw that image right out.Oh definitely. She treated numbers and shapes like they were characters in a sprawling novel. She would actually spread these massive sheets of paper out on her floor.Support the show