What Happens When Maths Goes Wrong? - with Matt Parker
3,170,757
Published 2019-03-07
Subscribe for regular science videos: bit.ly/RiSubscRibe
Matt's book "Humble Pi" available now: geni.us/9nPhpn3
Matt Parker is a stand-up comedian and mathematician. He appears regularly on TV and online: as well as being a presenter on the Discovery Channel. His YouTube videos have been viewed over 37 million times. Previously a high-school mathematics teacher, Matt visits schools to talk to students about maths as part of Think Maths and he is involved in the Maths Inspiration shows. In his remaining free time, Matt wrote the books Things To Make and Do in the Fourth Dimension and Humble Pi: A Comedy of Maths Errors. He is also the Public Engagement in Mathematics Fellow at Queen Mary University of London.
This talk was filmed in the Ri on 1 March 2019.
---
A very special thank you to our Patreon supporters who help make these videos happen, especially:
bestape, Dave Ostler, David Lindo, Greg Nagel, Ivan Korolev, John Pollock, Lester Su, Osian Gwyn Williams, Radu Tizu, Rebecca Pan, Robert Hillier, Roger Baker, Sergei Solovev, and Will Knott
---
The Ri is on Patreon: www.patreon.com/TheRoyalInstitution
and Twitter: twitter.com/ri_science
and Facebook: www.facebook.com/royalinstitution
and Tumblr: ri-science.tumblr.com/
Our editorial policy: www.rigb.org/home/editorial-policy
Subscribe for the latest science videos: bit.ly/RiNewsletter
Product links on this page may be affiliate links which means it won't cost you any extra but we may earn a small commission if you decide to purchase through the link.
All Comments (21)
-
This is my favourite Matt Parker video because not only is it the length of a feature film, but it has the plot twists of one too.
-
"You can find any pattern you want to any level of precision you want as long as you're prepared to ignore enough data." That's a huge thing to realize.
-
From the moment the first spin landed on "probability" I had a feeling it was going to be a long-haul joke; I just couldn't decide whether the wheel was weighted or it was done in multiple takes. Well done, Matt; and props to that audience for being so patient hahaha
-
"Maths is difficult, but the people who're enjoying maths are not the people who finds it easy but the people who enjoy how difficult it is." very inspiring.
-
Probability comes for the second time: "What are the chances!?" Audience: "..."
-
People in the live audience have no idea how huge those name drops were. "My friend James Grime... My friend Tom Scott..."
-
"Texas, undone by a lone star" That's a lot funnier than the audience reaction gives it credit. That would have been mystery-bisuit worthy on Citation Needed.
-
Watching Matt keep holding back smiles as his wife demonstrates the evidence of the recovery was amazing. That's a team.
-
As an Australian, watching him discuss the ancient Woolworth stores in England is fascinating.
-
As soon as I saw probability as a subject to be chosen at random my eyes narrowed. Well done.
-
"Texas undone by a lone star.", is a great line. I think you would have gotten a bigger laugh in the states.
-
"But neither of them are going anywhere because parents are jamming up the whole system..." fell out my chair, Matt
-
Here's one for the book. I learned in a highway design course that early on, they studied accident statistics and determined that, since accidents were more likely when driving on a curve or over a hill, that they could reduce the number of dangerous stretches of road by combining curves and hills whenever possible. This worked perfectly in achieving that result; of course that made the road even more dangerous.
-
"Lots of my friends procreate" as a bridge to talking about children's books was suboptimally received.
-
The 3 cogs logo is a surprisingly common mistake. It happened at my work - a multi-national engineering firm. Upper management proudly emailed their new logo to tens of thousands of engineers, hilarity and red faces followed.
-
It's amusing when he asks Lucy what is her research, as if he doesn't know. It's even more amusing when you realise they are married.
-
This guy is precisely my kind of pedantic nerd, and I freaking love it
-
"A lot of my friends procreate" is one of the strangest sentences I've ever heard. (9:56)
-
You know, when it landed on probability the first time, I figured that Matt had rigged it to land on probability all three times. I did not expect him to have people spin it until it got green all three times, I figured these talks had a time time schedule and at 1:07 it had probably already spilled over by a bit. Bravo.
-
I've been very pedantic regarding the "stars where the moon should be" for years now, the difference between me and Matt is that he makes people laugh about it and I make people want to throw things at my face.
