Mental calculators
A mental calculator or human calculator is a person with a prodigious ability in some area of mental calculation (such as adding, subtracting, multiplying or dividing large numbers). In 2005, a group of researchers led by Michael W. O'Boyle, an American psychologist previously working in Australia and now at Texas Tech University, has used MRI scanning of blood flow during mental operation in computational prodigies.
3 episodes
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Carl Friedrich Gauss
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the ideas of Gauss, 'prince of mathematicians', including those on number theory, geometry, probability theory, astronomy and electromagnetism.
30 November 2017
Featuring: Marcus du Sautoy, Colva Roney-Dougal, Nick Evans
ScienceFellows of the American Academy of Arts and SciencesLinear algebraistsMembers of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and HumanitiesFellows of the Royal SocietyMembers of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and SciencesUniversity of Göttingen alumniAcademic staff of the University of Göttingen18th-century German astronomersHonorary members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of SciencesMental calculatorsGerman LutheransMembers of the Royal Swedish Academy of SciencesCorresponding members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of SciencesOptical physicistsMembers of the Bavarian Academy of SciencesRecipients of the Copley MedalRecipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)Nikola Tesla
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the inventor who helped the advance of electrification in America at the end of the 19th century and cultivated his reputation as a visionary genius
04 April 2024
Featuring: Simon Schaffer, Jill Jonnes, Iwan Morus
ScienceMembers of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and ArtsNaturalized citizens of the United StatesRadio pioneersMembers of the American Philosophical SocietyPeople associated with electricityAmerican humanistsAmerican electrical engineers, People from ManhattanMental calculatorsDeaths from coronary thrombosis20th-century American engineersPaul Erdős
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life and work of the highly prolific, itinerant 20th century Hungarian mathematician, who enjoyed an unrivalled reputation for problem-solving.
23 Feb 2023
Featuring: Colva Roney-Dougal, Timothy Gowers, Andrew Treglown
SciencePrinceton University facultyInstitute for Advanced Study visiting scholarsSet theoristsAcademics of the Victoria University of ManchesterMembers of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and SciencesForeign members of the Royal SocietyMental calculatorsForeign associates of the National Academy of SciencesJewish agnosticsJewish atheists