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Hello and welcome to Morales on the BBC World Service.

I'm Ruth Alexander.

Numbers can be so powerful.

They can show you the world in a new light, move you to tears and even make you laugh.

And I hope you might experience that in a few minutes' time

when we hear a collection of our listeners much loved statistics.

But first, let's dwell on the sexy side of statistics.

In celebration of Valentine's Day, Tim Halford has asked Hannah Fry,

the author of a new book The Mathematics of Love,

to give him an example of how numbers could improve our love lives.

Online dating is kind of the gift that keeps giving if you are a mathematician or a statistician.

Because it's the first time that we...

No, because you can finally get a boyfriend or girlfriend or because it gives you data.

I was looking at mathematicians are famously excellent at finding lovers.

Of course.

But it's the first time really that we've been able to look at the way that people talk about themselves

when they're looking for love and also how they interact with other people.

...