PBS Infinite Series (2016)
Season 2
Mathematician Kelsey Houston-Edwards offers ambitious content for viewers that are eager to attain a greater understanding of the world around them. Math is pervasive - a robust yet precise language - and with each episode you’ll begin to see the math that underpins everything in this puzzling, yet fascinating, universe.
Released Nov. 17, 2016
None+
Genres: Documentary
Keywords: imdb.science-and-technology-documentary, imdb.mathematics
Watch Providers: PBS
Network: YouTube
Country: United States
Languages:
English
S2E1 - When Pi is Not 3.14
You’ve always been told that pi is 3.14. This is true, but this number is based on how we measure distance. Find out what happens to pi when we change the way we measure distance.
Jan. 5, 2017, midnight
S2E2 - Can a Chess Piece Explain Markov Chains?
In this episode probability mathematics and chess collide. What is the average number of steps it would take before a randomly moving knight returned to its starting square?
Jan. 12, 2017, midnight
S2E3 - Singularities Explained
Mathematician Kelsey Houston-Edwards explains exactly what singularities are and how they exist right under our noses.
Jan. 19, 2017, midnight
S2E4 - Kill the Mathematical Hydra
Mathematician Kelsey Houston-Edwards explains how to defeat a seemingly undefeatable monster using a rather unexpected mathematical proof. In this episode you’ll see mathematician vs monster, thought vs ferocity, cardinal vs ordinal. You won’t want to miss it.
Jan. 26, 2017, midnight
S2E5 - How Infinity Explains the Finite
Peano arithmetic proves many theories in mathematics but does have its limits. In order to prove certain things you have to step beyond these axioms. Sometimes you need infinity.
Feb. 2, 2017, midnight
S2E6 - The Mathematics of Quantum Computers
What is the math behind quantum computers? And why are quantum computers so amazing? Find out on this episode of Infinite Series.
Feb. 16, 2017, midnight
S2E7 - Splitting Rent with Triangles
You can find out how to fairly divide rent between three different people even when you don’t know the third person’s preferences! Find out how with Sperner’s Lemma.
Feb. 23, 2017, midnight
S2E8 - Infinite Chess
How long will it take to win a game of chess on an infinite chessboard?
March 2, 2017, midnight
S2E9 - 5 Unusual Proofs
March 9, 2017, midnight
S2E10 - Proving Pick's Theorem
March 16, 2017, midnight
S2E11 - What is a Random Walk?
March 23, 2017, midnight
S2E12 - Solving the Wolverine Problem with Graph Coloring
April 6, 2017, midnight
S2E13 - Can We Combine pi & e to Make a Rational Number?
April 13, 2017, midnight
S2E14 - How to Break Cryptography
April 20, 2017, midnight
S2E15 - Hacking at Quantum Speed with Shor's Algorithm
Classical computers struggle to crack modern encryption. But quantum computers using Shor’s Algorithm make short work of RSA cryptography. Find out how.
April 27, 2017, midnight
S2E16 - Building an Infinite Bridge
Using the harmonic series we can build an infinitely long bridge. It takes a very long time though. A faster method was discovered in 2009.
May 4, 2017, midnight
S2E17 - Topology Riddles
Can you turn your pants inside out without taking your feet off the ground?
May 11, 2017, midnight
S2E18 - The Devil's Staircase
Find out why Cantor’s Function is nicknamed the Devil’s Staircase.
May 19, 2017, midnight
S2E19 - Dissecting Hypercubes with Pascal's Triangle
June 1, 2017, midnight
S2E20 - Pantographs and the Geometry of Complex Functions
June 8, 2017, midnight
S2E21 - Voting Systems and the Condorcet Paradox
What is the best voting system? Voting seems relatively straightforward, yet four of the most widely used voting systems can produce four completely different winners.
June 15, 2017, midnight
S2E22 - Arrow's Impossibility Theorem
The bizarre Arrow’s Impossibility Theorem, or Arrow’s Paradox, shows a counterintuitive relationship between fair voting procedures and dictatorships.
June 22, 2017, midnight
S2E23 - Network Mathematics and Rival Factions
The theory of social networks allows us to mathematically model and analyze the relationships between governments, organizations and even the rival factions warring on Game of Thrones.
June 29, 2017, midnight
S2E24 - Making Probability Mathematical
What happened when a gambler asked for help from a mathematician? The formal study of Probability
July 13, 2017, midnight
S2E25 - Why Computers are Bad at Algebra
The answer lies in the weirdness of floating-point numbers and the computer's perception of a number line.
July 21, 2017, midnight
S2E26 - The Honeycombs of 4-Dimensional Bees ft. Joe Hanson
Why is there a hexagonal structure in honeycombs? Why not squares? Or asymmetrical blobby shapes? In 36 B.C., the Roman scholar Marcus Terentius Varro wrote about two of the leading theories of the day. First: bees have six legs, so they must obviously prefer six-sided shapes. But that charming piece of numerology did not fool the geometers of day. They provided a second theory: Hexagons are the most efficient shape. Bees use wax to build the honeycombs -- and producing that wax expends bee energy. The ideal honeycomb structure is one that minimizes the amount of wax needed, while maximizing storage -- and the hexagonal structure does this best.
Aug. 3, 2017, midnight
S2E27 - Stochastic Supertasks
What happens when you try to empty an urn full of infinite balls? It turns out that whether the vase is empty or full at the end of an infinite amount of time depends on what order you try to empty it in. Check out what happens when randomness and the Ross-Littlewood Paradox collide.
Aug. 10, 2017, midnight
Network: YouTube
Released: Nov. 17, 2016
Last Air Date: Aug. 10, 2017, midnight
Status: Returning Series
Certification: NR
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