Living Proof: the Isaac Newton Institute podcast

• #66 A conversation with Sarah Hart

  Send us a textWelcome to the latest episode of Living Proof, our podcast produced in collaboration with Plus.maths.orgIn this episode we spoke to Sarah Hart, a mathematician interested in not just the maths itself, but also its connections to other areas of literature and art. She's done an amazing number of things throughout her career — from research in pure mathematics and heading up a maths department, to being the first woman Gresham Professor of Geometry and President of the British Society for the History of Mathematics. Sarah has also written a fascinating book, called Once upon a prime: The wondrous connections between mathematics and literature, and she gave a talk at this year's Cambridge Festival, with the intriguing title Life in Lilliput – The Mathematics of Fictional Realms that was held at the INI. Sarah also participates in the Modern History of Mathematics research programme that is currently taking place at the INI.In this episode, Sarah tells us many things she has done and how they all fit together, and gives some advice for budding mathematicians of all ages: "keep pursuing all the things you love doing, and one day it may turn out that they all fit together."To find out more about some of the things mentioned in this podcast see the following links:Sarah Hart: Once upon a prime — In this episode of Maths on the Move podcast Sarah talks about her book and the connections between maths and literature.Maths in three minutes: Groups — This article gives a brief introduction to Sarah's research area.Life in Lilliput – The Mathematics of Fictional Realms — Click this link to watch a recording of Sarah's Cambridge Festival talk at the INI.

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• #64 Communicating mathematics with the INI and Hannah Fry

  Send us a textWelcome to the latest episode of Living Proof, our podcast produced in collaboration with Plus.maths.orgIn this episode, we dive into the importance of communicating mathematics to a broader audience, a growing priority within the maths community. Sara Khan, Communications Manager at the Isaac Newton Institute, shares how the INI is championing mathematics communication. Then, Rachel Thomas and Marianne Freiberger, editors of Plus.maths.org, revisit their conversation with Hannah Fry, who has recently taken on the role of Professor of the Public Understanding of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge. To learn more about the organizations and events mentioned in this episode that support mathematics communication, check out the following links:The Mathsci-comm network, funded by an INI Network grant, connects individuals working in or with an interest in communicating complex mathematics and data science to non-expert audiences. The network is managed by Plus.maths.org editors Marianne Freiberger and Rachel Thomas, alongside Maha Kaouri from the Newton Gateway to Mathematics.The Communicating Mathematical and Data Sciences — What Does Success Look Like? workshop, organized by the Mathsci-comm network, was held at the INI in November 2024. It was at this event that Hannah Fry announced her move to Cambridge.The Graduate Training Workshop for the Mathematical Sciences, hosted by the Newton Gateway to Mathematics, took place at the INI in February 2025, with a key focus on communication. This session was led by Plus.maths.org editors Marianne Freiberger and Rachel Thomas, along with Alison Kiddle and Katie Steckles, and followed a pilot event in October 2024.The Talking Maths in Public (TMiP) conference, held biennially in the UK, brings together those who work in or contribute to communicating mathematics to the public. TMiP 2025 will be held at the University of Warwick from 28th to 30th August 2025, with an option to attend online.

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• #65 Diving into maths with Emmy Noether

  Send us a textWelcome to the latest episode of Living Proof, our podcast produced in collaboration with Plus.maths.orgIn this episode, we talked to famous Maths historian, David E. Rowe, who provided scientific advice for the play Diving into math with Emmy Noether, which was staged as  part of the Modern History of Mathematics research programme and the Inclusivity in the Mathematical Sciences workshop at the INI. We dive deep into the life and work of Emmy Noether, and about what it's like putting mathematics on stage.The play is produced by Portrait Theater Vienna in co-operation with Freie Universität Berlin, directed by Sandra Schueddekopf, and features Anita Zieher as Emmy Noether.Read article Emmy Noether: a creative mathematical genius produced by Plus magazine as part of their collaboration with INI.

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• #63 Exploring anomalous diffusion: an interview with Aleks Mijatovic and Codina Cotar

  Send us a textIn the latest episode of Living Proof, Dan Aspel speaks to Aleks Mijatovic (Warwick, Alan Turing Institute) and Codina Cotar (UCL) about the Stochastic systems for anomalous diffusion programme. They’ll be speaking about the theme and challenges of their highly interdisciplinary six-month research project, but the conversation starts with comments on some truly remarkable headwear…Stochastic systems for anomalous diffusion programme: https://www.newton.ac.uk/event/ssd/Submit a proposal for an INI programme: https://www.newton.ac.uk/events/submit-a-proposal/00:00 - Introduction00:41 - Welcome, an insight into “flamboyant” hat designs03:53 - Explaining the concept of anomalous diffusion 07:05 - Connections to physics, biology, statistical mechanics and more10:00 - The logistical support at INI in Cambridge: “I’ve never been so relaxed in my life!”13:20 - “The freedom this place affords us is great, and fertile ground for such things to happen”17:52 - Solutions vs questions20:44 - Personal highlights of the programme

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• #62 Exploring Twistor Theory - an interview with Lionel Mason and Maciej Dunajski

  Send us a textIn the latest episode of Living Proof, Dan Aspel speaks to Professors Lionel Mason (Oxford) and Maciej Dunajski (Cambridge) of the Twistor Theory programme (https://www.newton.ac.uk/event/twt). Over the 30 minutes, they share their experiences of the scale and challenges of this far-reaching topic that - amongst other things - aims to unify general relativity and quantum mechanics.00:00 - Introduction00:42 - Welcome01:48 - “I have been excited about this programme for 40 years”, introducing the topic05:18 - Successes of the programme, the attendance of Roger Penrose06:30 - Connecting Twistor Theory with the Kennedy assassination, a short history of the field10:28 - The many languages of mathematics13:45 - Periods of acceleration within the field, “… the 70s must have been truly exciting”, the collaboration between Penrose and Michael Atiyah17:50 - “Roger makes no secret of the fact that he disapproved of String Theory”19:48 - What applications can one expect from Twistor Theory?27:14 - Personal highlights of the month-long programme, celebrating 30 years of collaboration

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