Magic Numbers: Hannah Fry's Mysterious World of Maths

Magic Numbers: Hannah Fry's Mysterious World of Maths (2018)

EndedDocumentary show

Dr. Hannah Fry explores the mystery of maths. Is it invented like a language or is it discovered and part of the fabric of the universe?

Streaming

Watch Now

Network
Scheduleevery Wednesday at 21:00 (60 min)

Last Episode

Weirder and Weirder
Season 1Episode 360 min

Weirder and Weirder

Hannah explores a paradox at the heart of modern maths, discovered by Bertrand Russell, which undermines the very foundations of logic that all of maths is built on. These flaws suggest that maths isn't a true part of the universe but might just be a human language - fallible and imprecise. However, Hannah argues that Einstein's theoretical equations, such as E=mc2 and his theory of general relativity, are so good at predicting the universe that they must be reflecting some basic structure in it. This idea is supported by Kurt Godel, who proved that there are parts of maths that we have to take on faith.

Hannah then explores what maths can reveal about the fundamental building blocks of the universe - the subatomic, quantum world. The maths tells us that particles can exist in two states at once, and yet quantum physics is at the core of photosynthesis and therefore fundamental to most of life on earth - more evidence of discovering mathematical rules in nature. But if we accept that maths is part of the structure of the universe, there are two main problems: firstly, the two main theories that predict and describe the universe - quantum physics and general relativity - are actually incompatible; and secondly, most of the maths behind them suggests the likelihood of something even stranger - multiple universes.

We may just have to accept that the world really is weirder than we thought, and Hannah concludes that while we have invented the language of maths, the structure behind it all is something we discover. And beyond that, it is the debate about the origins of maths that has had the most profound consequences: it has truly transformed the human experience, giving us powerful new number systems and an understanding that now underpins the modern world.

Oct 24, 2018

Recent Episodes

EpisodeNameAirdate
S01E03Weirder and WeirderOct 24, 2018
S01E02Expanded HorizonsOct 17, 2018
S01E01Numbers as GodOct 10, 2018
View all episodesView all seasons

Cast

View all cast

Characters

View all characters

Recently Updated Shows

Recently updated shows that might be of your interest.
The Simpsons
Running

The Simpsons

The Simpsons is the longest running scripted show in US television history. It captures the adventures of Homer, Marge, Maggie, Bart and Lisa who are living in a fictional town called Springfield.

Beyond Paradise
Running

Beyond Paradise

Death in Devon. DI Humphrey Goodman relocates from tropical Saint Marie to sleepy Shipton Abbott, cracking cases and hoping for happily ever after with fiancée Martha.

12 12 12
Upcoming

12 12 12

Each episode of 12 12 12 unfolds across three timelines of a heist: the 12 months of planning, the 12 hours of the heist and the 12 days following it. The series follows a disgraced FBI agent and an American career criminal as they play a zero-sum game of cat and mouse across Europe. At the center of it all is the daring, epic raid on a bank vault deep beneath the streets of Zurich.

The Real Housewives of Orange County
Running

The Real Housewives of Orange County

These ladies show no signs of slowing down and although they may be enjoying the sunny SoCal lifestyle, replete with plastic surgery and frequent shopping sprees, real life still manages to find them, even in the land of excess and indulgence on The Real Housewives of Orange County.

Fightland
Running

Fightland

Fightland follows a disgraced, formerly incarcerated boxing champion who returns to London to seek vengeance against the crime family he thinks betrayed him. With edge-of-seat action and populated by dangerous characters, this is a world of money and power never seen before.

On the night Duke Kilroy becomes world heavyweight champion, a vicious assault leaves his brother, Calvin, dead, causing Duke to snap and results in him spending eight years in a U.S. prison. Upon his release, and after having made a sinister discovery, Duke returns home seeking vengeance against the man he believes set him up -- the criminal kingpin and former promoter, Kingsley Marshall. But Kingsley has vanished, leaving his children and wife, Joy, who happens to be the love of Duke's life, to pick up the pieces.

Working with a cartel desperate to control London's drug market, Duke begins a high-risk game of infiltrating Kingsley's empire to destroy it from within and smoke out his enemy. But amidst a volatile criminal landscape, and competing influences threatening to pull him off course, Duke will need to channel everything that made him a champion fighter into his bloody pursuit to win the ultimate victory - revenge for his brother.