Season 2017

2017 · 20 episodes

Episodes

1Marcus Feldman: In Search of Actions That Alter EvolutionMarcus Feldman explains how he models the effects of a cultural preference — in this case, a preference for sons over daughters in China.
2Francis Su: Math and the Good LifeFrancis Su explains how mathematics can help a person to live well.
3Francis Su: Math Is for EverybodyFrancis Su discusses how the community of mathematicians tends to exclude certain people.
4Sylvia Serfaty: In Mathematics, ‘You Cannot Be Lied To’Sylvia Serfaty explains why you don’t have to be a genius to become a mathematician.
5Sharon Glotzer: ‘Digital Alchemist’ Seeks Rules of EmergenceSharon Glotzer explains how emergence, entropy and order can all fit together.
6John Novembre: A Map of Human History, Hidden in DNAJohn Novembre explains how he uses genomic data to map human history.
7Tim Maudlin: A Defense of the Reality of TimeA Defense of the Reality of Time
8Journey to the Birth of the Solar System 360 VRJoin David Kaplan on a virtual-reality tour showing how the sun, the Earth and the other planets came to be.
9Purvesh Khatri: More Data — the Dirtier the BetterKhatri learned that by working with 'messy' clinical data sets, he could find genes that the human body expresses in response to diverse forms of a disease.
10Jessica Flack: How Nature Solves Problems Through ComputationJessica Flack describes the special challenges of applying collective computation to the understanding of complex biological systems.
11Jay Pasachoff: Eclipse Hunter Reveals the Science That Can Only Be Done in the DarkJay Pasachoff explains what scientists can learn during a total solar eclipse.
12How Andrea Ghez Found a Supermassive Black HoleThe UCLA astrophysicist explains how tracking the movement of stars revealed the existence of a supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy.
13Svitlana Mayboroda: Taming Rogue WavesSvitlana Mayboroda describes how the landscape function helps solve the mystery of wave localization.
14Neil Johnson: A Physicist Who Models ISIS and the Alt-RightNeil Johnson on the physics of collective human behavior.
15Nigel Goldenfeld: Seeing Emergent Physics Behind EvolutionNigel Goldenfeld explains how condensed matter physics provides insights into the collective state of early life on Earth.
16Rebecca Goldin: Why Math Is the Best Way to Make Sense of the WorldRebecca Goldin explains why quantitative literacy is so important.
17Michael Assis: Atomic OrigamiMichael Assis demonstrates how defects can be used to tune the properties of Miura-ori origami.
18Federico Ardila: A Mathematician Who Dances to the Joys and Sorrows of DiscoveryA Mathematician Who Dances to the Joys and Sorrows of Discovery
19Minhyong Kim: Connecting Number Theory to PhysicsMinhyong Kim wanted to make sure he had concrete results in number theory before he admitted that his ideas were inspired by physics.
20Corina Tarnita: First Understand Nature’s RulesCorina Tarnita argues that to fully appreciate nature, you must first understand its rules.