13min chapter

Lateral with Tom Scott cover image

120: The monk's discovery

Lateral with Tom Scott

CHAPTER

Whimsical Connections: Art, Numbers, and Space

This chapter humorously explores a variety of topics ranging from hair removal to the historical significance of the first color map of Mars. The speakers engage in playful discussions about numbers, cryptic signs, and the origins of Scrabble, showcasing their camaraderie while weaving in historical insights. Through a blend of lightheartedness and inquiry, they highlight the interconnectedness of art, culture, and exploration.

00:00
Speaker 1
It's particularly bad because when you remove hair, you've got to moisturise and moisturise obviously would make things more slippy. So it makes sense to then use glue.
Speaker 2
Simone Biles' Arse Adhesive. Oh my God. Sorry, Simone. You're the only gymnast I can think of.
Speaker 3
Thank you to Jordan for sending this question in. In 1965, Richard did a colour by numbers using brown, red and yellow pastels. It's now framed and on display in Pasadena, California. Why was this picture the first of its kind? In 1965, Richard did a colour by numbers using brown, red and yellow pastels. It's now framed and on display in Pasadena, California. Why was this picture the first of its kind? I've
Speaker 1
only done a couple of colour-by I didn't have the patience for it and ended up getting my colours confused so it looked like a psychedelic nonsense. I mean, that's art. I mean, it's so art, or it's just impatience and inability to pay attention. How about, OK, so a colour by numbers for those, we should make clear what that is. It's basically you've got a picture and on the picture, it's got numbers in each segment where you paint that specific segment a certain colour. And this one was just brown, red and yellow. Yes. Has it got anything to do with that song, All the Loops of Brown? But
Speaker 3
no, that looks great. It is California Dreamin'. There you go. Oh, it is. It's on display in California. Was he a
Speaker 2
papa from the Mummers and Papas?
Speaker 4
Well, it's the first of its kind. So there is an indication that it's one of the first, or like whatever he did was like the first paint by numbers or it has something to do with either the subject matter or the fact that he used only brown red and yellow
Speaker 1
and then obviously blends of those brown red and yellow this sounds an awful lot like things that come from the human body yeah
Speaker 4
it
Speaker 1
also was like just very popular colours. I mean, popular colours, yes, but what I'm thinking is, I'm thinking all of the colours of things that come out of you, you know, some of them are yellow, some of them are brown, and some
Speaker 4
of them are red. The medieval humours of it all. Exactly. I
Speaker 2
can't think of an artist called Richard, but if the artist was called a Hieronymus, Bosch's paintings
Speaker 3
are a bit more gruesome like that. That was not the subject of the picture. But the colours that were chosen did turn out to be surprisingly accurate.
Speaker 1
Is it like the first, like, Jesus, like, paint by numbers? Was it done by, no, I was going to say, was it done by a blind person? But that doesn't make sense. Because
Speaker 4
you've got to see the numbers. Was it done by someone who's colorblind?
Speaker 2
No. Okay. I've got two slightly interlinked ideas. So color by numbers is basically an algorithm. So is this someone using maths or calling it algorithmic art? And the related thing is, well, at that point you've got an infographic. Was this the first infographic? And they were trying to use a painting to display data. This is a painting that's displaying data, but
Speaker 3
infographic isn't the right word for it. You're right that colour by numbers is a... Technically it is. This was not just a book of colour by numbers stuff. It's
Speaker 1
not the first pie shot, because that was Florence Nightingale.
Speaker 3
Was it the first colour by numbers made by computers? Computers were involved in creating what was being coloured in. Is
Speaker 2
it like a, so this is 60s, there's a lot of city building going. Was this like a zoning map? And the first time they coloured it to see the distribution of like and residential and business zones. Not this time, no. Space. Space. Sorry. America, 60s. It's
Speaker 1
the right decade for space. Space.
Speaker 2
Yes. The reason I came to that is 60s, so computers, very big, very expensive. 65 is very space. So NASA's going to have computers. And did you say the person was British? Richard. Richard. Did I just assume that? He's just called Richard. You just assumed it. I don't know if
Speaker 4
you know this, Matt, but there are Americans named Richard.
Speaker 1
Just so you know. Dick Cheney, you know, the people who think of Richards in America.
Speaker 2
I've now got kids in America, but with the words Richards in America going on my head. Brown, red and yellow is kind of what Mars looks like. It is. Oh, hello.
Speaker 1
Is this like the first accurate? So basically they got the data from Mars and then they made a map of it and then they painted it. And it's the first actual colour picture we have of
Speaker 2
Mars. Yes, it is. And it's by numbers because the computer could only output text like a dot matrix printer. So that's so
Speaker 4
cool. Spot
Speaker 2
on. You couldn't print in colour so that you had to do it yourself.
Speaker 3
Yep. You're absolutely right. This is Richard Grum and his colleagues from Pasadena, California. Home of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Speaker 2
Yes. And the little old lady. Sorry?
Speaker 4
Okay. Okay. Guys don't know who Beach Boys. Like, whatever. It's fine. Okay, okay. I
Speaker 1
thought we established we're elder millennials, not elder Generation X. Okay, I don't know what your all spirits listen to, but I...
Speaker 4
My mum
Speaker 3
listened to Queen. This was the Mariner 4 spacecraft sending back images from Mars. It was the first ever close-up image of another planet. It was taking a long time for the computer to process the data, so while they waited, they converted the data captured by a spare tape recorder into numbers, printed them out on ticker tape, stuck them together, and those numbers represented just the amount of light. So it was actually just a black and white image. Richard Grumman and his colleagues obtained some pastels from an art shop and the colours chosen were surprisingly
Speaker 2
accurate for the red planet. Oh, brown, red and yellow are just different shades of yellow-ish, aren't they? So they're getting darker. Yeah. Orangey readiness. And Pasadena is where they still downlink and process all of the data for all of the remote stuff. So that's where their mission control for deep space is, I think.
Speaker 3
Yep. And the image is still on display at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
Speaker 2
Cool.
Speaker 3
Izzy,
Speaker 1
over to you for the last guest question of the show. This question has been sent in by Matthew Sherlick. In the Jackson Heights Historic District of New York City, there's a sign for 35th Avenue. Why does it also feature the numbers 1, 4, 1, 4, 1, 1, and 1. In the Jackson Heights Historic District of New York City, there is a sign for 35th Avenue. Why does it also feature the numbers 1, 4, 1, 4, 1, 1, 1, and 1? The
Speaker 3
very first thing I do when I hear a sequence of numbers like that, it's like, is that a code? Is that something like that? So I did the thing where you convert it to letters and I got, which is
Speaker 2
unhelpful. Is it anything to do with cinema? It
Speaker 1
has got nothing to do with cinema. Okay.
Speaker 2
So I'll tell you what I was thinking then, because in Die Hard 2, someone has to solve a puzzle briefcase on the side of Central Park. Nice. And I think, I don't know where Jackson Heights is, but I assume it's up at least the very north end of Manhattan, if it's on Manhattan or on Queens.
Speaker 4
But you said Avenue.
Speaker 2
Yeah, 35th Avenue.
Speaker 4
So the avenues go east to west.
Speaker 2
Yeah. Streets
Speaker 4
go north to south. So like Harlem is like in the 100 pluses. Upper West Side's in the 70s.
Speaker 3
Yeah, 35th is going to be fairly south as Manhattan goes. Maybe like south bit of Central Park.
Speaker 4
I wouldn't be as obsessed by
Speaker 1
the geography of it as you. I mean, something happened. But avenues are the up-down on Manhattan, not Scott Street, this is Avenue. Isn't Jackson Heights like way, way, way up at the top? And you're like... Point is, nothing to do with the answer, so don't worry about it. It's just a little side quest we went on together. If I were you, I would count the quantity of numbers in the list.
Speaker 3
Seven, then one. Well, you did say one, one, one. Could be 111.
Speaker 1
I said one, four, one, four,
Speaker 3
one, one, one. I'm going to ask a really pedantic question. Yes, please do. Do the pauses in that mean anything? Are those in any groups? No,
Speaker 1
they're not in any groups.
Speaker 3
Oh, okay. Okay. I
Speaker 1
just like to be dramatic, Tom. That's what it is. I'm trying to make ones and fours exciting for you.
Speaker 2
So that final one isn't separate? It's not separate
Speaker 3
in particular, no. 1-4 OK.
Speaker 2
If anything, if I was to give you a big clue, it would be 1-4 OK. Is it Jackson Heights is making me think Jackson 5? Is it the chord sequence, chord progression within one of their songs and it goes from the roots to the fourth chord, then back to the root, then the fourth chord, then it stays in the root for the rest of it.
Speaker 1
And somebody thought this is the only way to celebrate that song is by putting it on this particular avenue
Speaker 3
sign. Absolutely. Because if you see that and you get it, you deserve to know. Is this something to do with the three musketeers? Okay.
Speaker 1
Yeah. I was like,
Speaker 4
wait. I
Speaker 1
love the way your brains work. No. Did you just get that as well, Abby? When I, when I said like, I was like,
Speaker 4
all for one, one for all. Yes. I'm like, I don't understand what this has to do with new york city but no
Speaker 3
same at
Speaker 4
least we know our brains are like on some sort of equal wavelength like uh which makes me feel a lot smarter than i actually am so so how count the quantity of
Speaker 1
numbers on the list so how many numbers did I say?
Speaker 2
There was eight. Eight numbers
Speaker 1
on the list. There were eight. And that amount is the same as what? Bits
Speaker 2
in a bite.
Speaker 1
And when you think about this, remember, we're looking at a sign for 35th Avenue.
Speaker 4
Oh, so 35 is eight. That's true, but that's not it. Well, that's confusing. Okay, there's a lot of eights happening. You
Speaker 3
can decompose eight into three and five from 35. You can also, yeah, it doesn't. There's eight compass directions?
Speaker 1
I mean, technically, yes, but actually on the sign, what is that eight of? Wait, it's an octagon? No. No, there's no octagons on the sign. The sign says 35th Avenue. Well then... And it also has the numbers 1414111 and one on it. Is
Speaker 2
that just like the model number of the sign or like the order code?
Speaker 1
Alas, alas not. They're specifically placed. And if you work out what else there is eight of on that sign, you might get a hint.
Speaker 2
Oh, oh, oh. Are they metro lines? No.
Speaker 1
Letters. Is it letters?
Speaker 2
Hello? Hello, Abby. Hello. Because TH
Speaker 1
and then Avenue,
Speaker 4
that equals eight. It
Speaker 1
does. So
Speaker 4
is it? And
Speaker 1
appropriately, all of those letters are in capitals. So
Speaker 4
it's Roman numeral? No. T-H
Speaker 2
It's not like the fours of vowels or anything, because I've got them written down on top of each other here. I've got them written down now. And I can't see any relation. I
Speaker 1
mean, maybe you shouldn't write them on top of each other. Maybe you should write them slightly smaller and next to each other. Oh, Scrabble! Oh!
Speaker 2
It's the Scrabble numbers, aren't they?
Speaker 1
So why do they put the Scrabble numbers on this sign? Is that where Scrabble was invented? Bingo. It is exactly where Scrabble was invented. Well done. In 1938, architect Alfred Moshe Butz invented a board game that he initially called Lexico, before changing it to cross-cross words and then Scrabble. The game was tested out in a room of the methodist church here to commemorate this origin story the 35th avenue sign has been adorned with the numbers equivalent to the point values of the eight letters as if they were tiles in the game oh
Speaker 2
lovely
Speaker 1
but well done guys because that was like i was like there's no way there is no way it
Speaker 3
is one of those things right at the start. I was like, I'll convert these letters to numbers. I didn't do the rest of the standard crossword clues and quiz clues for letters and numbers, which is, yeah, you check Scrabble. You check snooker ball colours. You check everything like that. Yeah.
Speaker 1
I mean, you have to play Scrabble regularly to get the four is
Speaker 2
the H and
Speaker 1
the V. So I
Speaker 2
like that it was first play tested in a community center, like all board games are. And like so many board game nights are put together.

Get the Snipd
podcast app

Unlock the knowledge in podcasts with the podcast player of the future.
App store bannerPlay store banner

AI-powered
podcast player

Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features

AI-powered
podcast player

Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features

Discover
highlights

Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode

Discover
highlights

Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode

Save any
moment

Hear something you like? Tap your headphones to save it with AI-generated key takeaways

Save any
moment

Hear something you like? Tap your headphones to save it with AI-generated key takeaways

Share
& Export

Send highlights to Twitter, WhatsApp or export them to Notion, Readwise & more

Share
& Export

Send highlights to Twitter, WhatsApp or export them to Notion, Readwise & more

AI-powered
podcast player

Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features

AI-powered
podcast player

Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features

Discover
highlights

Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode

Discover
highlights

Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode