Ian Stewart
Emeritus Professor of Mathematics at the University of Warwick
15 episodes
Appears in multiple episodes with: Marcus du Sautoy
Covers topics in categories such as:
Complexity
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the science of complex systems, and its importance to understanding the world around us.
19 December 2013
Also featuring: Jeff Johnson, Eve Mitleton-Kelly
Game Theory
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss game theory, the mathematical study of decision-making.
10 May 2012
Also featuring: Andrew Colman, Richard Bradley
Imaginary numbers
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss imaginary numbers - important mathematical phenomena which provide us with useful tools for understanding the world.
23 September 2010
Also featuring: Marcus du Sautoy, Caroline Series
Pythagoras
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the ideas and influence of the Greek mathematician Pythagoras and his followers, the Pythagoreans.
10 December 2009
Also featuring: Serafina Cuomo, John O'Connor
PhilosophyFounders of religionsAncient Greek philosophers of mindAncient occultists6th-century BC Greek philosophersAncient Greek metaphysicians5th-century BC Greek philosophersAncient Greek political refugeesAncient SamiansAncient Greek music theoristsAncient Greek geometers6th-century BC religious leaders, 5th-century BC religious leadersThe Physics of Time
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the physics of time - what is it and does it even exist?
18 December 2008
Also featuring: Jim Al-Khalili, Monica Grady
Probability
Melvyn Bragg discusses the strange mathematics of probability from renaissance gambling to chaos theory.
29 May 2008
Also featuring: Marcus du Sautoy, Colva Roney-Dougal
Symmetry
Melvyn Bragg discusses symmetry in art and nature. From snowflakes and butterflies to the music of Bach and the poems of Pushkin.
19 April 2007
Also featuring: Fay Dowker, Marcus du Sautoy
The Poincaré conjecture
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Poincaré Conjecture, a puzzle that may explain the shape of the universe.
2 November 2006
Also featuring: June Barrow-Green, Marcus du Sautoy
Negative numbers
Melvyn Bragg discusses the history of negative numbers, from the trailblazing Chinese to the suspicious Europeans.
9 March 2006
Also featuring: Colva Roney-Dougal, Raymond Flood
Pi
Melvyn Bragg discusses the history of the longest and most detailed number in nature and examines what it tells us about the hidden complexities of our world.
2 September 2004
Also featuring: Robert Lee Kaplan, Eleanor Robson
Zero
Melvyn Bragg discusses the history of the number between 1 and -1, which has strange and uniquely beguiling qualities. How was zero invented and what role does it play in mathematics today?
13 May 2004
Also featuring: Robert Kaplan, Lisa Jardine
Infinity
Melvyn Bragg discusses a core concept in modern maths which philosophers and mathematicians have continued to grapple with; what is mathematical infinity and does it exist in nature?
23 October 2003
Also featuring: Robert Kaplan, Sarah Rees
Extra Terrestrials
Melvyn Bragg discusses whether there are reasons to suppose that some form of life might exist beyond, or even within, our solar system and what our chances of ever discovering such a planet are.
4 April 2002
Also featuring: Simon Goodwin, Heather Couper
Mathematics and Platonism
Melvyn Bragg discusses whether mathematics is a process of invention or of discovery. And if it is a discovery, how can we be sure that the mathematic we think we have discovered is the right one?
11 January 2001
Also featuring: Margaret Wertheim, John D. Barrow
Mathematics
Melvyn Bragg examines the way perceptions of the importance of mathematics have fluctuated in the 20th century and what mathematics can reveal about how life began, and how it might continue.
6 May 1999
Also featuring: Brian Butterworth