An Illumination
Benjamen Walker's Theory of Everything
Benjamen Walker & Radiotopia
4.4 • 1.5K Ratings
🗓️ 27 January 2015
⏱️ 20 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Cédric Villani won the prestigious Fields Medal for his work in 2010. He wrote a book about his experience called Birth of a Theorem: A Mathematical Adventure. It is a book about where ideas come from. There is something spider like about Villani, and I say that not just because of the pins he is famous for always wearing. He knows how to catch ideas, and he wants to teach us how as well. We also talk with Maria Popova about another great Science book: The art of Scientific Investigation. I found this book thanks to the idea catching web that Maria Popova built: brainpickings.org.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | You are listening to Benjamin Walker's Theory of Everything. |
| 0:05.0 | At Radiotopia, we now have a select group of amazing supporters that help us make all our shows possible. If you would like to have your company or |
| 0:14.8 | product sponsor this podcast then get in touch drop a line to sponsor at radiotopia |
| 0:21.4 | fm. Thanks. Hey dear listener, it's me Benjamin Walker. I just |
| 0:26.7 | want to say a quick thank you to everyone who's already donated to support Radiotopia |
| 0:32.4 | and this show during our fall fundraiser. |
| 0:35.0 | It's always great to hear from so many of you out there in listener land who feel |
| 0:40.0 | moved and connected to support the things we make. Our fundraiser is coming to a |
| 0:46.0 | close later this month and if we reach our goal of 1,000 donors after the |
| 0:50.8 | holidays we'll share a digital zine with everyone who donated to help us get there |
| 0:55.6 | but we're still a little short. As of recording this we are still needing 160 more listeners to join the fold. If you've been on the fence or |
| 1:07.4 | meaning to donate, please consider making your tax deductible gift today to support independent podcasts like this one. |
| 1:16.0 | Head over to radiotopia.F.M slash donate and make your gift today. Thank you so much for listening and supporting this show. |
| 1:27.0 | You are listening to Benjamin Walker Theory of Everything. |
| 1:31.0 | This installment is called an elimination. |
| 1:35.0 | I don't really know where the ideas come from. |
| 1:39.0 | What I know is how ideas did happen to me? Cedric Vylani is a mathematician, quite an accomplished one. |
| 1:48.0 | In 2010 he received a Fields Medal for his work on the Boltzmann equation. |
| 1:53.0 | Lately, he's been thinking a lot about where ideas come from. |
| 1:58.0 | You see, this mathematical genius is actually only experienced two flashes of illumination in his life. |
| 2:05.0 | One when he was sitting in this room thinking about the problem that he won the fields |
| 2:09.0 | medal for and another when he was boarding a train to Paris from Lyon where he lives and teaches. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Benjamen Walker & Radiotopia, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Benjamen Walker & Radiotopia and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.