The impossible number

Discovery

BBC

Science

4.3 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 1 May 2023

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

There is a bizarre number in maths referred to simply as ‘i’. It appears to break the rules of arithmetic - but turns out to be utterly essential for applications across engineering and physics. We are talking about the square root of -1, which makes no sense.

Professor Fry waxes lyrical about the beauty and power of this so-called ‘imaginary’ number to a sceptical Dr Rutherford.

Dr Michael Brooks, author of The Maths That Made Us, tells the surprising story of the duelling Italian mathematicians who gave birth to this strange idea, and shares how Silicon Valley turned it into cold hard cash. Professor Jeff O’Connell, Ohlone College California, demonstrates that it is all about oscillations, and Dr Eleanor Knox, philosopher of physics at KCL and a senior visiting fellow at the University of Pittsburgh reveals that imaginary numbers are indispensable for the most fundamental physics of all - quantum mechanics.

Transcript

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0:00.0	He's a rule-breaker, a trend-setter. He reshaped art and redefined graffiti.
0:07.4	How does he smell?
0:08.4	I paint.
0:09.4	Has he got any distinction features?
0:10.8	His anonymity.
0:11.8	But who is he?
0:13.2	What's his name?
0:14.0	Banksy.
0:15.0	Apparently I've mentioned twice.
0:16.5	The Banksy story.
0:18.0	Banksy's work is always about the human spirit versus the establishment.
0:24.2	Listen on BBC Science.
0:27.4	BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts.
0:33.4	Fifteen years ago, 23-year-old Norwegian student Martina Vick Magnussen was killed in an apartment near Mayfair.
0:40.4	23-year-old Martina Vick Magnussen was found partially buried in the basement.
0:45.4	Before being questioned, the only suspect in the case had fled the UK to Yemen.
0:50.4	I made a promise to Martina's family to find out what happened.
0:54.4	Murder in Mayfair, part of the documentary, find it wherever you get your BBC podcast.
1:01.4	Hello and welcome to the curious cases of Rutherford and Fry on Discovery for the BBC.
1:06.4	This is the programme where you send us in the queries, questions and conundrums that you are curious about.
1:12.4	And we will look into them on your behalf using the power of science.
1:16.4	So please do send us your questions, curious cases at bbc.co.uk and on with the show.
	...

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