Mathematics has played a vital role in the development of human civilisation, and is the foundation of much of modern technology and popular culture. However, the achievements of mathematics and mathematicians are often unknown or misunderstood. The contribution of mathematicians over the centuries will be celebrated, showing how mathematical ideas have huge relevance today - varying between Maxwell and the mobile phone, Florence Nightingale and modern statistics, Pythagoras and the development of music, Euclid and art, Euler and Facebook, and Cayley and Google. Even basic mathematics can make a profound difference to our lives.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/what-have-mathematicians-done-for-us

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 1,900 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

Support the show