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The Mathematicians Podcast - Podcast

The Mathematicians Podcast

Where we explore the historical figures that count. An in-depth look at the history of mathematics, in chronological order, looking at the people, the theories, the ideas - with as fewer gaps as possible. Each episode we focus in on a single character or contribution to the history of maths and explore why it is significant, and how it evolved.

Mathematics Society & Culture History Philosophy Science
Update frequency
every 7 days
Average duration
25 minutes
Episodes
39
Years Active
2025
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Episode 39 - Diophantus of Alexandria - A whole lot of fun

Episode 39 - Diophantus of Alexandria - A whole lot of fun

This week, we're taking another trip to ancient Alexandria to meet Diophantus, often hailed as the "Father of Algebra." 

Join us as we untangle the fuzzy biography of a mathematician whose life story…

00:21:19  |   Wed 17 Sep 2025
Episode 38 - Ptolemy - Beneath  the Sheets

Episode 38 - Ptolemy - Beneath the Sheets

Imagine writing a book so influential it becomes the undisputed authority on the nature of the universe for the next 14 centuries. Now, imagine its core premise is completely wrong. That's the legacy…

00:27:46  |   Wed 10 Sep 2025
Episode 37 - Theon of Smyrna - A Number for a Name

Episode 37 - Theon of Smyrna - A Number for a Name

Join Benjamin Cornish as he uncovers the story of Theon of Smyrna (c. 70 CE), the ancient world's ultimate study-guide writer!

He wasn't a revolutionary, but Theon's "Mathematical Matters Useful for …

00:17:15  |   Wed 03 Sep 2025
Episode 36 - Nicomachus of Gerasa - That which divides us

Episode 36 - Nicomachus of Gerasa - That which divides us

In this episode of The Mathematicians Podcast, Benjamin Cornish explores the life and works of Nicomachus of Gerasa—a philosopher, mystic, and mathematician whose obsession with numbers shaped centur…

00:25:14  |   Wed 27 Aug 2025
Episode 35 - Menelaus of Alexandria - The straightest Curve

Episode 35 - Menelaus of Alexandria - The straightest Curve

In this episode of The Mathematicians Podcast, Benjamin Cornish explores the life and work of Menelaus of Alexandria; the mathematician who transformed how we think about geometry on curved surfaces.…

00:17:38  |   Wed 20 Aug 2025
Episode 34 - Injectives with Dr Daffern - Religion and Maths - Part 2

Episode 34 - Injectives with Dr Daffern - Religion and Maths - Part 2

In this one-to-one edition of The Mathematicians Podcast, part of our Injectives subseries, host Benjamin Cornish sits down with philosopher, peace theorist, and long-time educator Dr Thomas Daffern …

00:49:00  |   Wed 13 Aug 2025
Episode 33 - Injectives with Dr Daffern - Religion and Maths - Part 1

Episode 33 - Injectives with Dr Daffern - Religion and Maths - Part 1

In this one-to-one edition of The Mathematicians Podcast, part of our Injectives subseries, host Benjamin Cornish sits down with philosopher, peace theorist, and long-time educator Dr Thomas Daffern …

00:44:00  |   Wed 06 Aug 2025
Episode 32 - Hero of Alexandria - A Hero to us all

Episode 32 - Hero of Alexandria - A Hero to us all

This week, Benjamin Cornish invites you to step into the steam-powered sandals of Hero of Alexandria—the ancient world’s most enthusiastic gadgeteer. Was he a mathematician? An engineer? A magician i…

00:13:46  |   Wed 30 Jul 2025
Episode 31 - Hipparchus - Going Supernova

Episode 31 - Hipparchus - Going Supernova

In this episode of The Mathematicians Podcast, Benjamin Cornish dives into the life and legacy of Hipparchus, the Greek thinker who gave us trigonometry, mapped the stars, and even invented tools to …

00:17:40  |   Wed 23 Jul 2025
Episode 30 - Dionysodorus of Amisus & Hypsicles of Alexandria

Episode 30 - Dionysodorus of Amisus & Hypsicles of Alexandria

This week on The Mathematicians Podcast, Benjamin Cornish presents a double bill of underappreciated thinkers from the back shelves of Greek geometry: Dionysodorus of Amisus and Hypsicles of Alexandr…

00:21:59  |   Wed 16 Jul 2025
Episode 29 - Perseus - In High Spirics

Episode 29 - Perseus - In High Spirics

This week on The Mathematicians Podcast, Benjamin Cornish reflects on a tragic bagel incident, files an HR complaint, and somehow ends up discussing the mathematics of toroidal cross-sections. Join u…

00:22:03  |   Wed 09 Jul 2025
Episode 28 - Apollonius of Perga - What Goes around comes around

Episode 28 - Apollonius of Perga - What Goes around comes around

In this episode of The Mathematicians Podcast, Benjamin Cornish turns his attention to Apollonius of Perga—the ancient Greek mathematician whose work on conic sections shaped the way we understand cu…

00:24:27  |   Wed 02 Jul 2025
Episode 27 - Chrysippus - A Good Proposition

Episode 27 - Chrysippus - A Good Proposition

What do ancient logic, Stoic philosophy, and paradoxes have in common? Chrysippus of Soli. In this episode, Ben Cornish explores how Chrysippus revolutionised logic and gave Stoicism its rational bac…

00:21:49  |   Wed 25 Jun 2025
Episode 26 - Eratosthenes - A Prime Example

Episode 26 - Eratosthenes - A Prime Example

In this episode of The Mathematicians Podcast, host Benjamin Cornish paddles upstream—literally and figuratively—to explore the remarkable life and ideas of Eratosthenes of Cyrene, the polymath who m…

00:18:14  |   Wed 18 Jun 2025
Episode 25 - Philo of Byzantium -

Episode 25 - Philo of Byzantium -

Grab your ventriloquist dummies and your gimbles, as we catapult ourselves into a story about the worlds first mathematical engineer. If you thought Leonardo Da Vinci was pretty metal, well you're ab…

00:21:46  |   Wed 11 Jun 2025
Episode 24 -Archimedes of Syracuse

Episode 24 -Archimedes of Syracuse

In this week's episode we look at the life an works of the Great Archimedes. A man who was so much more than what we all think, and we all think quite highly of him. But let's look behind the claw, t…

00:26:10  |   Wed 04 Jun 2025
Episode 23 - Aristarchus of Samos - Got The Measure of Things

Episode 23 - Aristarchus of Samos - Got The Measure of Things

This week we look at a man who looked at the moon whilst it looked at the sun and thought: "Gosh, that looks far away".

 

But how far away is the sun, really. Or the better question would be: "How fa…

00:22:03  |   Wed 28 May 2025
Episode 22 - Injectives - Mikhail Koroteev on Instructional Puzzles

Episode 22 - Injectives - Mikhail Koroteev on Instructional Puzzles

This episode has been a real favourite of mine to record - I sit down with the co-creator of www.euclidea.xyz to ask all of my puzzling questions on how the game was developed, the inspiration behind…

01:04:22  |   Wed 21 May 2025
Episode 21 - Euclid - In His Element

Episode 21 - Euclid - In His Element

This week: The big cheese. It's Euclid time. Come with me on a journey through his optics, astronomy and or course the elements - a week of exceptionally good maths.

 

The Music was:

"Danse Macabre -…

00:30:39  |   Wed 14 May 2025
Episode 20 - Autolycus of Pitane - Got the Ball Rolling

Episode 20 - Autolycus of Pitane - Got the Ball Rolling

This week we look up to one of the most influential stargazers of all time. Autolycus, the very first non-Euclidean geometer, even before Euclid hit the scene. 

 

The music is: 

"Danse Macabre - Fin…
00:16:22  |   Wed 07 May 2025
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