2 min listen
Choose Your Own Adventure — But Make It Math
FromShort Wave
ratings:
Length:
12 minutes
Released:
Oct 9, 2023
Format:
Podcast episode
Description
Ever read those Choose Your Own Adventure books of the '80s and '90s? As a kid, mathematician Pamela Harris was hooked on them. Years later she realized how much those books have in common with her field, combinatorics, the branch of math concerned with counting. It, too, depends on thinking through endless, branching possibilities. So, she and several of her students set out to write a scholarly paper in the style of Choose Your Own Adventure books. In this encore episode, Dr. Harris tells host Regina G. Barber all about how the project began, how it gets complicated when you throw in wormholes and clowns, and why math is fundamentally a creative act.
Released:
Oct 9, 2023
Format:
Podcast episode
Titles in the series (100)
Introducing Short Wave: Short Wave, NPR's new daily science podcast, starts October 15th. Join host Maddie Sofia, Monday through Friday. Subscribe now. by Short Wave