As usual, the TED community has lots of news to share this week. Below, some highlights. Farewell to Cassini — and here’s to the continuing search for life beyond Earth. In mid-August, PBS released a digital short featuring Carolyn Porco, a planetary scientist and the leader of the imaging team for the Cassini mission to […]
The world turns on symmetry — from the spin of subatomic particles to the dizzying beauty of an arabesque. But there’s more to it than meets the eye. Here, Oxford mathematician Marcus du Sautoy offers a glimpse of the invisible numbers that marry all symmetrical objects. (Recorded at TEDGlobal 2009, July 2009, Oxford, UK. Duration: […]
Mathematician and science communicator Marcus du Sautoy began his talk with the story of Evariste Galois, a Paris revolutionary who died in his brother’s arms. The night before, Galois had stayed up all night trying to explain his mathematical ideas before his duel the next day. He was trying to explain symmetry. Symmetry helps us […]
Marcus du Sautoy used his math and science skills to open Session 6 with a thorough talk about symmetry. Reactions to this talk on Twitter seemed to range from amusing to challenging, but to be fair, Marcus du Sautoy did challenge the audience first. You know you’re at #TED when mathematicians get cheers on stage. […]