The mathematics of sidewalk illusions

Lesson duration 04:55

Have you ever come across an oddly stretched image on the sidewalk, only to find that it looks...

The mathematics of history - Jean-Baptiste Michel

Lesson duration 04:27

What can mathematics say about history? According to TED Fellow Jean-Baptiste Michel, quite a...

The paradox at the heart of mathematics: Gödel's Incompleteness Theorem

Lesson duration 05:20

Consider the following sentence: “This statement is false.” Is that true? If so, that would make...

How the Königsberg bridge problem changed mathematics

Lesson duration 04:39

You’d have a hard time finding the medieval city Königsberg on any modern maps, but one...

The mighty mathematics of the lever

Lesson duration 04:46

Archimedes once said “Give me a place to stand, and I shall move the Earth.” While the idea of a...

Is math discovered or invented?

Lesson duration 05:11

Would mathematics exist if people didn't? Did we create mathematical concepts to help us...

Where do math symbols come from?

Lesson duration 04:30

Math is full of symbols: lines, dots, arrows, English letters, Greek letters, superscripts, ...

Math is the hidden secret to understanding the world - Roger Antonsen

Lesson duration 17:05

Unlock the mysteries and inner workings of the world through one of the most imaginative art...

The greatest mathematician that never lived

Lesson duration 05:13

When Nicolas Bourbaki applied to the American Mathematical Society in the 1950s, he was already...

The magic of Vedic math

Lesson duration 09:45

There is more than one way to reach a correct answer in mathematics. Vedic math, an ancient...

How does math guide our ships at sea?

Lesson duration 04:19

Without math, would our seafaring ancestors ever have seen the world? Great mathematical thinkers...

Fractals and the art of roughness - Benoit Mandelbrot

Lesson duration 17:10

At TED2010, mathematics legend Benoit Mandelbrot develops a theme he first discussed at TED in...

Making sense of irrational numbers

Lesson duration 04:41

Like many heroes of Greek myths, the philosopher Hippasus was rumored to have been mortally...

The mathematical secrets of Pascal’s triangle

Lesson duration 04:50

Pascal’s triangle, which at first may just look like a neatly arranged stack of numbers, is...

Why do honeybees love hexagons?

Lesson duration 03:59

Honeybees are some of nature’s finest mathematicians. Not only can they calculate angles and...

The unexpected math behind Van Gogh's "Starry Night"

Lesson duration 04:39

Physicist Werner Heisenberg said, “When I meet God, I am going to ask him two questions: why...

Group theory 101: How to play a Rubik’s Cube like a piano

Lesson duration 04:37

Mathematics explains the workings of the universe, from particle physics to engineering and...

An introduction to mathematical theorems

Lesson duration 04:39

Euclid of Alexandria revolutionized the way that mathematics is written, presented or thought...

Euclid’s puzzling parallel postulate

Lesson duration 03:37

Euclid, known as the "Father of Geometry," developed several of modern geometry's most enduring...

A performance of "Mathemagic" - Arthur Benjamin

Lesson duration 15:15

Why are manhole covers round?

Lesson duration 03:35

Why are most manhole covers round? Sure it makes them easy to roll, and slide into place in any...

How high can you count on your fingers? (Spoiler: much higher than 10)

Lesson duration 04:30

How high can you count on your fingers? It seems like a question with an obvious answer. After...

The coin flip conundrum

Lesson duration 04:23

When you flip a coin to make a decision, there's an equal chance of getting heads and tails. What...

Can you solve the human cannonball riddle?

Lesson duration 05:29

They call you the human cannonball. Your act involves flying through rings of fire, bouncing...

How to make a hexaflexagon

Lesson duration 04:08

Have you ever folded scraps of paper into shapes and discovered something new? In this lesson, Vi...

Math jokes explained

Lesson duration 04:04

It's not your typical knock-knock joke -- these funny jests will tickle your imaginary numbers...

The Elliptical Pool Table: A Mathematician's Dream

Lesson duration 03:40

Learn what an elliptical pool table can teach us about mathematics.

The Scientific Way to Cut a Cake

Lesson duration 05:09

Alex Bellos from Numberphile shows the mathematically perfect way of cutting a round cake.

Candy factory

Lesson duration 03:01

Ready, set, count! It looks easy at first, but paying close attention to the candies coming out...

The simplest math problem no one can solve

Lesson duration 22:09

The Collatz Conjecture is the simplest math problem no one can solve — it is easy enough for...

The limit does not exist

Lesson duration 01:08

From speed limits to limited capacity elevators, we're used to limits in our daily lives. But,...

SpongeBob's house is not a pineapple

Lesson duration 01:58

Are SpongeBob's pants really square? Is Gary's shell a logarithmic spiral? No. But, how can we...

What's the difference between weather and climate?

Lesson duration 04:33

We have weather and we have climate… but are they the same thing? The short answer is no, but...

Learn about the universe (that's everything, right?)

Lesson duration 02:41

The universe: is it everything, things we can see, or things that have existed and will one day...

Why cockroaches are so hard to kill

Lesson duration 04:33

Cockroaches are one of the most widespread and resilient creatures on this planet. They are...

Why tech needs the humanities

Lesson duration 11:13

If you want to build a team of innovative problem-solvers, you should value the humanities just...

Honey: bacteria's worst enemy

Lesson duration 04:20

It may not look like it sitting in that cute bear bottle, but honey is a supercharged...

Our story in 1 minute

Lesson duration 01:37

From the first bang, expanding endlessly across the darkness, to the intricacies of our own...

This piece of paper could revolutionize human waste

Lesson duration 05:35

Could this simple kirigami paper be a solution to our waste problem? Kirigami is a variation of...

Safe Cracking with Feynman - Numberphile

Lesson duration 08:23

Professor Roger Bowley chats with Brady Haran from Numberphile about some of the ways...

The archer's paradox in slow motion

Lesson duration 08:51

Did you know arrows consistently bend before they hit their target? It's called the archer's...

Riemann's paradox: pi = infinity minus infinity

Lesson duration 11:58

With the help of a very famous mathematician, the Mathologer sets out to show how you can...

How a 15-year-old solved a Rubik's Cube in 5.25 seconds

Lesson duration 04:22

Rubik's Cube pro Collin Burns tells us how he solved the cube in 5.25 seconds.

Months of the year song

Lesson duration 03:48

There are 12 months in a year. Let's find out when they happen in this song!

Winning at Rock Paper Scissors

Lesson duration 05:48

Hannah Fry from Numberphile shares a few strategies to help you win your next game of Rock...

Polygon song

Lesson duration 04:03

Understanding different kinds of shapes can help you better understand patterns and how to create...

3D shapes song | Shapes for kids

Lesson duration 03:31

Shapes are all around you! Everything you can see is made up of either flat shapes or...