How to explain infinity to a 4-year-old
More or Less
BBC
4.6 • 3.7K Ratings
🗓️ 3 September 2012
⏱️ 10 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
‘What’s the number before infinity?’ asks Claudia, aged 4. We challenge Johnny Ball, legendary British TV presenter, to explain. And in celebration of the voice of Sesame Street’s Count von Count, Jerry Nelson, who’s died aged 78, there’s another chance to hear our 2009 interview with the Count, in which he revealed his favourite number: 34,969. Presented by Ruth Alexander, this programme was first broadcast on the BBC World Service.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Thank you for downloading from the BBC. |
| 0:03.0 | The details of our complete range of podcasts and our terms of use |
| 0:07.0 | go to BBCWorldService.com slash podcasts. |
| 0:13.0 | Hello and welcome to more or less on the BBC World Service. I'm Ruth Alexander. |
| 0:18.0 | This week we hope the programme will appeal to both little people and adults. |
| 0:22.0 | In just a few minutes we'll pay tribute to one of the world's greatest mathematicians, |
| 0:27.0 | certainly one of the most popular and a hero to us here on more or less. |
| 0:31.0 | The first thing I ever counted was my fingers and my toes. |
| 0:35.0 | My ears and then my nose in that order. |
| 0:39.0 | Sesame Streets, Count von Count, whose Muppet Master Jerry Nelson has sadly died. |
| 0:45.0 | But first this week we've been asked to make some time for infinity. |
| 0:50.0 | Hello, my four-year-old daughter wishes to know. |
| 0:53.0 | What is your number before infinity? |
| 0:56.0 | Can you advise on a mathematically reasonable answer that I could explain to a four-year-old? |
| 1:02.0 | Thanks. |
| 1:03.0 | One of the toughest challenges yet for more or less. |
| 1:06.0 | So confidently I invited four-year-old Claudia Howarth and her mum Ellie into the studio |
| 1:11.0 | and battered her question straight onto someone else. |
| 1:13.0 | Johnny Ball, a legendary British TV presenter who's made a career out of explaining maths to children. |
| 1:19.0 | Right. |
| 1:20.0 | Can you help? |
| 1:21.0 | What is the number before infinity? |
... |
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