Method to Our Mathness

Published: Dec. 13, 2010, 3 a.m.

b'The language of science is mathematics. As incredible as it seems, the universe seems to run according to laws we can write down on chalkboards.\\nBut it\\u2019s not just lab-coated researchers who wield the tool of math: Madison Avenue knows that if they tell you that a shampoo is 32 percent better, you\\u2019re likely to buy it.\\nAlso, how scientists of the early twentieth century were forced to invent entirely new mathematical paradigms to describe the cosmos on big scales and small \\u2013 the theories of general relativity and quantum mechanics.\\nPlus, what about everyday arithmetic? Have pocket calculators and digital cash registers dumbed down the populace?\\nGuests:\\n\\n\\nCharles Seife - Professor of journalism at New York University, and author of Proofiness: The Dark Arts of Mathematical Deception\\n\\n\\n\\nJames Kakalios - Professor of physics at the University of Minnesota, and author of The Amazing Story of Quantum Mechanics: A Math-Free Exploration of the Science that Made Our World\\n\\n\\n\\nLeonard Mlodinow - Physicist, and author with Stephen Hawking of The Grand Design\\n\\n\\n\\nAimee Ellington - Professor of mathematics at Virginia Commonwealth University\\n\\n\\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices'