The Hunt for Nothing, Part 2
Curious Cases
BBC
4.8 • 4.1K Ratings
🗓️ 2 December 2016
⏱️ 14 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In the last episode the team started investigating the following inquiry, sent in to curiouscases@bbc.co.uk: 'Is there any such thing as nothing?'
They discovered why quantum fluctuations and the Higgs field mean that nothing is impossible. But how about in mathematics?
The story of zero is fraught with inspiration, competition and controversy. Banned in Florence and hated by the Church, zero had a rocky road to acceptance after its genesis in India.
Hannah talks to author Alex Bellos and hears about his journey to India to see the birth of zero, featuring archive from 'Nirvana by Numbers' on BBC Radio 4.
Plus, Adam is sent on a mission to understand calculus and enlists the help of Jeff Heys from Montana State University.
If you have any Curious Cases for the team to solve please email curiouscases@bbc.co.uk
Presenters: Adam Rutherford & Hannah Fry Producer: Michelle Martin.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to part three of series four of the curious cases of Rutherford and Fry. |
| 0:05.2 | Which is equivalent to part two of nothing. |
| 0:08.4 | This is like zero point two. |
| 0:11.1 | See, you and Numbers, they sit very nicely together, |
| 0:14.3 | but I'm already confused and the program hasn't even started yet. |
| 0:17.1 | I know, but in this episode, this is the one we were getting to take them out. |
| 0:20.0 | Oh my God, you were so overexcises in this one. |
| 0:23.2 | I just... I don't just like it a lot. |
| 0:25.8 | It was a little bit painful at times when you were just getting really into Calcutta. |
| 0:29.7 | I can't help it. I can't help it. |
| 0:31.5 | There was nothing I liked more in the world than a good juicy, delicious bit of calculus. |
| 0:37.0 | Yeah, you were really, really excited. |
| 0:39.3 | And I had to concentrate really hard. |
| 0:40.6 | You did. Well, but you know, we get to do a bunch of stuff all the time. |
| 0:44.7 | There is some truth in that. |
| 0:46.0 | So here we go. Part two about nothing. |
| 0:55.2 | Welcome to part two of the hunt for nothing. |
| 0:58.4 | Yes, we are halfway through nothing here, |
| 1:01.2 | answering this fantastic question sent to us by Bill Kek. |
| 1:04.3 | Does nothing exist? |
| 1:05.9 | In the last episode, we looked deep into the cosmic wilderness |
| 1:09.4 | and inside the invisible quantum vacuum. |
... |
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