Now playing · Tue Oct 6 · 6:30pm
Lectures on Tap — What Is a Number? A History of a (Seemingly) Simple Idea
Andy Schultz, Professor of Mathematics at Wellesley College, traces how the idea of number has changed through key moments in mathematical history, from counting to the abstract structures behind modern science, and asks what a number is, what rules it must obey and who decides them. Schultz has taught and researched for nearly 25 years, working on Galois theory, algebraic combinatorics and the mathematics of voting.