Professor Jonathan Van-Tam
Himself - Presenter
Royal Institution Christmas Lectures (1966)
2006
The Royal Institution Christmas Lectures are a series of lectures on a single topic, which have been held at the Royal Institution in London each year since 1825. The lectures present scientific subjects to a general audience, including young people, in an informative and entertaining manner. Michael Faraday initiated the first Christmas Lecture series in 1825. This came at a time when organised education for young people was scarce. Faraday presented a total of nineteen series in all.
Released Jan. 4, 1966
Episode 60 min
None+
Genres: Documentary
Keywords: imdb.christmas-in-title, imdb.holiday-in-title, imdb.five-word-title, imdb.christmas
Network: BBC Four
Country: United Kingdom
Languages:
English
S41E1 - The curious incident of the never-ending numbers
The secret life of numbers has fascinated people ever since humans learned to count. Join Marcus as he investigates where our numbers came from and where they are going, how big they can get and whether infinity is really a number. Explore the mysterious primes, the indivisible numbers. Just why did Beckham choose the number 23 shirt? And why do sunflowers have 89 petals? Find out how to try for the $1 million prize for cracking mathematics' biggest mystery.
Dec. 25, 2006, midnight
S41E2 - The story of the elusive shapes
Ever wondered why bubbles are always round even if you blow them with a square frame? Or why footballs are made out of pentagons and hexagons? Take a tour through the mathematical and cultural world of shapes - from pyramids in Egypt to the domes of Italy, and from the shape of good dice to the smell of symmetry. We'll even take a trip into hyperspace and reveal how to see in four dimensions.
Dec. 26, 2006, midnight
S41E3 - The secret of the winning streak
Place your bets as we use maths to win at games. Logic is an important part of playing games and mathematics can help you plan the best strategy to win. Explore why some games are won or lost on the first move, how lateral thinking unlocks fiendish brainteasers, and why the economy, the law courts and even human relationships are one big game.
Dec. 27, 2006, midnight
S41E4 - The case of the uncrackable code
From the Caesar Cipher to the Da Vinci Code, people have been fascinated by secret messages. The mathematics of codes lets us to do everything from photographing the surface of Mars to shopping securely on eBay. Find out how prime numbers are now the key to codes which protect credit cards from internet hackers, and how, in the digital age, i-pods and digital TV are just a load of 0s and 1s.
Dec. 28, 2006, midnight
S41E5 - The quest to predict the future
Mathematics is the ultimate fortune teller. It can predict if a new plane design will make it off the ground. It can plan the path of a spacecraft so it passes close to every planet on its journey through the solar system. But some of nature's equations are more tricky. Why is weather so hard to forecast? How will world populations evolve? The mathematics of chaos theory helps explain why problems like these are so challenging.
Dec. 29, 2006, midnight
Network: BBC Four
Episode Runtime: 60 min.
Season Runtime: 7272 min.
Released: Jan. 4, 1966
Last Air Date: Dec. 31, 2024, midnight
Status: Returning Series
Certification: NR
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