logo
episode-header-image
May 2008
42m 11s

Probability

Bbc Radio 4
About this episode

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the strange mathematics of probability where heads or tails is a simple question with a far from simple answer. Gambling may be as old as the hills but probability as a mathematical discipline is a relative youngster. Probability is the field of maths relating to random events and, although commonplace now, the idea that you can pluck a piece of maths from the tumbling of dice, the shuffling of cards or the odds in the local lottery is a relatively recent and powerful one. It may start with the toss of a coin but probability reaches into every area of the modern world, from the analysis of society to the decay of an atom. With Marcus du Sautoy, Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford; Colva Roney-Dougal, Lecturer in Pure Mathematics at the University of St Andrews; Ian Stewart, Professor of Mathematics at the University of Warwick

Up next
Yesterday
The Waltz (Archive Episode)
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the dance which, from when it reached Britain in the early nineteenth century, revolutionised the relationship between music, literature and people here for the next hundred years. While it may seem formal now, it was the informality and daring tha ... Show More
52m 4s
Yesterday
Sir Thomas Wyatt (Archive Episode)
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss 'the greatest poet of his age', Thomas Wyatt (1503 -1542), who brought the poetry of the Italian Renaissance into the English Tudor world, especially the sonnet, so preparing the way for Shakespeare and Donne. As an ambassador to Henry VIII and, al ... Show More
57m 50s
Oct 2
Julian of Norwich (Archive Episode)
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the anchoress and mystic who, in the late fourteenth century, wrote about her visions of Christ suffering, in a work since known as Revelations of Divine Love. She is probably the first named woman writer in English, even if questions about her nam ... Show More
50m 1s
Recommended Episodes
Jul 2021
LM101-086: Ch8: How to Learn the Probability of Infinitely Many Outcomes
This 86th episode of Learning Machines 101 discusses the problem of assigning probabilities to a possibly infinite set of outcomes in a space-time continuum which characterizes our physical world. Such a set is called an “environmental event”. The machine learning algorithm uses ... Show More
35m 29s
Jul 2024
Tom Chivers | Probability & Bayes Theorem
✍︎: The Curious Worldview Newsletter - the ultimate compliment to the podcast... Other episode of the podcast that suit this episode...Brian Klaas – Fluke & RandomnessRuss Roberts – EconTalkLuca Dellanna – Ergodicity All The Way DownScott Patterson – Chaos KingsNassim Taleb & Inc ... Show More
1h 21m
Mar 2024
Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the German physicist who, at the age of 23 and while still a student, effectively created quantum mechanics for which he later won the Nobel Prize. Werner Heisenberg made this breakthrough in a paper in 1925 when, rather than starting with an idea ... Show More
58m 2s
Aug 2024
285 | Nate Silver on Prediction, Risk, and Rationality
Being rational necessarily involves engagement with probability. Given two possible courses of action, it can be rational to prefer the one that could possibly result in a worse outcome, if there's also a substantial probability for an even better outcome. But one's attitude towa ... Show More
1h 11m
Jul 31
Whack-a-Mole!
Episode Description: When a marching band practice turns into a math-filled magic show, Max and Molly stumble upon suspicious activity involving real moles, fake teachers, and a very old-school printer. Can they figure out what the POGs are planning before it's too late? Math Con ... Show More
17m 59s
Dec 2024
Qu’est-ce que le "paradoxe du singe savant" ?
Le "paradoxe du singe savant" est une expérience de pensée fascinante qui illustre des concepts de probabilité et d'infinité. Il repose sur l'idée suivante : imagine un singe frappant aléatoirement les touches d'une machine à écrire pendant une durée infinie. Le paradoxe suggère ... Show More
2m 18s
Apr 2025
Episode 307: What's in the BOX?
David and Tamler talk about two famous puzzles that for different reasons have bedeviled the rationalist community – The Monty Hall Problem and Newcomb’s “paradox.” Why is it so hard for people to see that a 66% chance of winning a car is better than a 33% chance? Why do famous m ... Show More
1h 16m
Jul 2024
Les statistiques, c'est vraiment des maths ? (ta minute mathématique #2)
🎙️ Ta minute mathématique, ton nouveau rendez-vous de l'été. Une minute pour une notion simple de mathématique abordées sous forme de question que tu as toujours voulu poser sans jamais oser le demander.Rendez-vous tous les mercredis pendant l'été.Aujourd'hui : les statistiques, ... Show More
1m 52s
Mar 2024
60. For the love of maths
As a child, Kate Ertmann starred in commercials, in soap operas and on Broadway. But acting wasn’t her first love - mathematics was. She considered it to be “a balm" for her brain. And yet societal and teenage pressures made her turn away from maths.Growing up in Sweden, Sebastia ... Show More
29m 5s
Jul 2024
Why does Africa perform poorly in mathematics?
Thousands of students in secondary schools across Africa are sitting their final year exams at the moment and in the coming few weeks. In the maths paper, they are certain to come across one question from the quadratic equations topic requiring them to find X. Very few people on ... Show More
16m 40s