S09:E03, “Gallery of the Infinite” edition, with Richard Evan Schwartz (audio)

Posted by jnshaumeyer on 3 August 2017

Streamed live on 27 July 2017.

We haven’t talked much about math so far on “Read Science!”, but with this episode we got down to serious business and went directly to Big Numbers and Infinity — and beyond!

Our guest was mathematician Richard Evan Schwartz, author of Gallery of the Infinite, Really Big Numbers, and You Can Count on Monsters, his remarkably informative yet playful graphical books about numbers, big numbers, and lots and lots of numbers. We discussed numbers and art and his penchant for making drawings to explain these ideas. We also learned more about the “Infinite Chicken” and “Rational Crocodile”. It’s good to be reminded that math can be this much fun.

Look for his books at your library or at the American Mathematical Society’s bookstore:
http://bookstore.ams.org/#search?schwartz?page=0

For more about “Inkscape”, the vector-drawing program Rich uses to create his images, or to download a free copy, visit their official website: https://inkscape.org/en/.

Like “Read Science!” on Facebook to hear about upcoming programs, easy links to the archive, and news about RS! guests: https://www.facebook.com/ReadScience/.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download