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“When am I going to use this in my life?” is probably the most common question in math class right behind “when does class end?” This subject is notorious for being, we can say, less than loved by students. However, today, we’re applying math to an unexpected and interesting area. I'll be talking to mathematician Dr. Sarah Hart on how math is the structure of beauty as well as how math is interwoven with art and writing.

Topics -

How beauty can be replicated and described through math
In light of math's relation to art, is beauty relative?
How our perception of beauty has changed over the centuries
Math in music and literature
How authors have used math in writing
Modern art and math
Why we should teach math like music
What books have had an impact on Dr. Hart
What advice Dr. Hart has for teenagers

Dr. Sarah Hart is a respected pure mathematician and a gifted expositor of mathematics, as evidenced by her 2021 profile in the New York Times (https://tinyurl.com/3urd7pxk). Dr Hart was the youngest STEM professor appointed at Birkbeck College (University of London) and its first woman Mathematics Professor. Educated at Oxford and Manchester, she gained her PhD in Mathematics in 2000 at the age of 25, moving to Birkbeck as a lecturer in 2004. As a hugely popular lecturer with over 20 years teaching experience, she is a regular speaker at public events. In 2020 she was appointed the 33rd Gresham Professorship of Geometry, the oldest mathematics chair in the UK dating back to 1597. She is the first woman ever to hold the position.

Dr. Hart's lively Gresham lectures can be found here:

https://www.gresham.ac.uk/search/?terms=sarah+hart
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1t6kKXoBvjdr8m9KJ2Fx7A

She is also President of the British Society for the History of Mathematics, the oldest such society in Europe. As well as promoting academic research into the history of mathematics, a key aim of the society is to emphasize the cultural importance of mathematics by incorporating the history of mathematics into mathematics education.

Resources -

The Luminaries - https://amzn.to/3HXNycW
Gulliver's Travels - https://amzn.to/362XDbi
Moby Dick - https://amzn.to/3tJEuDG
The Movie Maniacs Podcast- https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-movie-maniacs-podcast/id1527652674

Socials! -

Website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aiming4moon/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Aiming4Moon

Taylor's Blog: https://www.taylorgbledsoe.com/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6-TwYdfPcWV-V1JvjBXk

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83. Math - the Structure of Beauty: Dr. Sarah Hart (Prof. of Mathematics @ Birkbeck College at the London University) 38:03 Share

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83. Math - the Structure of Beauty: Dr. Sarah Hart (Prof. of Mathematics @ Birkbeck College at the London University)