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
Episodes in this category also belong to the following categories:
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 Royal SocietyFellows of the American Academy of Arts and SciencesRecipients of the Copley MedalMembers of the Royal Swedish Academy of SciencesHonorary members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of SciencesMembers of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and SciencesGerman LutheransUniversity of Göttingen alumniMembers of the Bavarian Academy of SciencesRecipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)Academic staff of the University of GöttingenMembers of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and HumanitiesMental calculatorsCorresponding members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of SciencesOptical physicists18th-century German astronomersLinear algebraistsNikola 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 American Philosophical SocietyPeople associated with electricityNaturalized citizens of the United StatesAmerican humanistsDeaths from coronary thrombosisMembers of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and ArtsMental calculators20th-century American engineersRadio pioneersAmerican electrical engineers, People from ManhattanPaul 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
ScienceForeign associates of the National Academy of SciencesMembers of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and SciencesJewish agnosticsMental calculatorsJewish atheistsForeign members of the Royal SocietyInstitute for Advanced Study visiting scholarsSet theoristsAcademics of the Victoria University of ManchesterPrinceton University faculty