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In Our Time

Mathematics and Platonism

In Our Time

BBC

History

4.69.8K Ratings

🗓️ 11 January 2001

⏱️ 29 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Melvyn Bragg looks at the deep claims made for mathematics, the discipline some believe to be the soul and true key to the understanding of all life, from the petals on the sunflower to the pulse in our wrists. The notion that mathematics is akin to theology might take some taking in at first. But from the first, in the West, they were. To Pythagoras, numbers were mystical and “prove” God. To Plato, who, it is claimed, has driven mathematics for over two thousand years, the ideals beyond the reality of our lives are to be found in mathematical perfections, immutable truth, God again in numbers. Are mathematics there in the universe, waiting to be discovered as the great ocean lying before Newton - or are they constructs applied by us to the universe and imposed rather than uncovered? It’s a long way from chalky sums on the blackboard and the first careless swing of the compass. Galilei Galileo wrote, “The Universe cannot be read until we have learnt the language and become familiar with the characters in which it was written. It is written in mathematical language, and the letters are triangles, circles and other geometrical figures, without which means it is humanly impossible to comprehend a single word”. But is he right that mathematics is the script in which the universe was written, or is it really just one of many possible systems that humankind has invented to interpret our world? Is mathematics is a process of invention or a voyage of discovery?With Ian Stewart, Professor of Mathematics and Gresham Professor of Geometry, University of Warwick; Margaret Wertheim, science writer, journalist and author of Pythagoras’ Trousers; John D Barrow, Professor of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge.

Transcript

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0:00.0

Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know.

0:04.7

My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds.

0:08.5

As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices.

0:18.0

What you may not know is that the BBC makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars,

0:24.6

poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples.

0:29.7

If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC Sounds.

0:36.0

Thanks for downloading the In Our Time Podcast.

0:39.0

For more details about In Our Time and for our terms of use, please go to BBC.co. UK

0:44.3

forward slash radio for I hope you enjoy the program.

0:47.2

Hello Galileo wrote the universe cannot be read

0:52.1

until we've learned the language and become familiar with the characters in which it was written.

0:57.0

It's written, he wrote, in mathematical language, and the letters are triangles, circles, and other geometrical figures without which means

1:04.7

it's humanly impossible to comprehend a single word. But is he right that mathematics is

1:10.4

the script in which the universe was written or is it really just one of many possible systems? is the

1:12.7

or is it really just one of many possible systems that humankind is

1:15.8

invented to interpret our world.

1:18.4

With me to discuss whether mathematics is a process of invention or a voyage of

1:21.6

discovery is Ian Stewart, Professor of Mathematics and Greshing Professor of Geometer at the University of Warwick,

1:27.1

author of many books including Nature's Numbers.

1:29.9

Also, whether this is a science writer and journalist Margaret Wertheim, author of Pythagoras' trousers,

1:35.0

and John D. Barrow, professor of Applied Mathematics and The The theoretical Physics of the University of Cambridge,

1:40.0

and the author of The universe that discovered itself.

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