Three has amazing properties, doesn't it? And I think that instead of just trying to make children memorize what things add up to things, we could be amazed and marvel at three. Three is really a three body problem. It's much harder than the two body problems. We do have fours in literature as well. The number eight is considered to be very connected with good fortune because it sounds like good luck. But sadly the number four sounds like death unfortunately for me because my birthday is April the 4th - but you know never mind, I'm all right so far. Yeah, just one final word for you, Jin, if she were to say one thing very quickly that
Kirsty Wark celebrates the artistry of numbers with three mathematicians Eugenia Cheng, Sarah Hart and Emily Howard.
Eugenia Cheng asks Is Maths Real? in her new book, which offers a new way to look at the subject by focusing on the questions, rather than the answers. She explores how asking the simplest of questions – ‘why does 1 + 1 = 2?’ – can get to the very heart of the search for mathematical truth.
Sarah Hart wants to break down the perceived barriers between mathematics and the creative arts. In Once Upon a Prime: The Wondrous Connections Between Mathematics and Literature she reveals the geometry lurking in Moby-Dick, George Eliot’s obsession with statistics, and Jurassic Park’s fractal patterns.
Emily Howard has a dual passion for maths and music. In her compositions she plays with mathematical shapes and processes. Her new record Torus, released on NMC Recordings in April, brings together works including sphere and Compass.
Producer: Katy Hickman