logo
episode-header-image
Nov 2010
28m 5s

Randomness

Bbc Radio 4
About this episode

Physicist Brian Cox and comedian Robin Ince are joined by the Australian comedian and musician Tim Minchin and mathematician Alex Bellos to discuss randomness, probability and chance. They look at whether coincidences are far more common than one might think and how a mathematical approach can make even the most unpredictable situations... well, predictable.

Producer: Alexandra Feachem.

Up next
Dec 24
The North Pole Unwrapped - Russell Kane, Felicity Aston and Lloyd Peck
In this Christmas episode of The Infinite Monkey Cage, Brian Cox and Robin Ince head to the North Pole to explore the dazzling science behind the northern lights, the extreme adaptations that help animals - and even Santa Claus - survive the Arctic cold, and how the Earth’s magne ... Show More
42m 22s
Dec 17
Monkey Business - Robin Dunbar, Dave Gorman and Jo Setchell
In perhaps the monkiest Infinite Monkey Cage episode there’s ever been, Brian Cox and Robin Ince attempt to uncover the secrets of love, lust and friendship in primates. Swinging by to offer a hand (or tail) are evolutionary psychologist Robin Dunbar, anthropologist Jo Setchell, ... Show More
42m 30s
Dec 10
Head in the Clouds - Owain Wyn Evans, Gavin Pretor-Pinney, Amanda Maycock
Robin Ince and Brian Cox look up to the heavens as they try to ‘de-mistify’ the foggy science of clouds. They’re joined by Cloud Appreciation Society founder Gavin Pretor-Pinney, climate scientist Amanda Maycock, and former weather presenter and drummer Owain Wyn Evans, for a whi ... Show More
42m 24s
Recommended Episodes
May 2008
Probability
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 ma ... Show More
42m 11s
Jun 2021
What are the Odds?
<p>Coincidences can feel like magic. When we realize that a co-worker shares our birthday or run into a college roommate while on vacation, it can give us a surge of delight. Today, we revisit a favorite episode about these moments of serendipity. Mathematician <a href="http://ww ... Show More
29m 26s
Dec 2022
Confessions Of A Math Convert
Math is a complex, beautiful language that can help people understand the world. And sometimes math is hard! Science communicator Sadie Witkowski says the key to making math your friend is to foster your own curiosity and shed the fear of sounding dumb. That's the guiding princip ... Show More
12m 55s
Mar 2020
Humble Pi: When Math Goes Awry
Pi Day (3/14) approaches. To help honor the coming holiday and the importance of math, stand-up mathematician Matt Parker unspools a common math mistake known as the off-by-one-error. His new book is called 'Humble Pi: When Math Goes Wrong In The Real World.' Email the show at sh ... Show More
11m 34s
Jun 2022
Can Computers Be Mathematicians?
<p><span style="font-weight: 400">How do you teach mathematics to an artificial intelligence? AI has already bested humans at various problem-solving tasks, including games like chess and Go. But before any task can be tackled by a machine, it must be reinterpreted as  directions ... Show More
32m 50s
Apr 2018
Albert Einstein
Kindly favourite-uncle genius with comedy hair, or controlling egomanic? Russell Kane attempts to explain the theory of relativity to Caz Frear, Sean McLoughlin and Rachel Parris. 
26m 5s
Sep 2010
Carl Friedrich Gauss
Marcus du Sautoy argues that mathematics is the driving force behind modern science: German mathematician, Carl Friedrich Gaus.This ten part history of mathematics from Newton to the present day, reveals the personalities behind the calculations: the passions and rivalries of mat ... Show More
13m 49s
Mar 2022
Is maths real?
<p>Faced with one cake and eight hungry people, it’s pretty obvious how maths underpins reality. But as mathematics gets further from common sense and into seemingly abstract territory, nature still seems to obey its rules - whether in the orbit of a planet, the number of petals ... Show More
32m 15s
Apr 2021
Pierre-Simon Laplace
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Laplace (1749-1827) who was a giant in the world of mathematics both before and after the French Revolution. He addressed one of the great questions of his age, raised but side-stepped by Newton: was the Solar System stable, or would the planets cr ... Show More
48m 10s