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How can mathematics help us to understand the world around us? The tracks on this album take us to Antarctica, Hong Kong and New Zealand to find out how mathematicians work with scientists and biologists to create mathematical models, and how collaborations like these can help decipher and predict a range of natural phenomena. We learn how the 17th Century saw the birth of one of the most important mathematical tools - calculus, and modern mathematicians examine the contribution of its three inventors - Fermat, Newton and Leibniz. This material forms part of The Open University course MS221 Exploring mathematics.
Track 5: Predicting climate change
Why elaborate mathematical modelling is needed to predict ice break-up in Antarctica.
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Tracks in this podcast:
| Track | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mathematics: a powerful tool | An introduction to the tracks on this album. Play now Mathematics: a powerful tool |
| 2 | Mathematical modelling for real | An introduction to mathematical modelling in the real world. Play now Mathematical modelling for real |
| 3 | An ancient tradition | How bamboo scaffolding does its job. Play now An ancient tradition |
| 4 | How maths helps dolphins | Using statistical modelling to calculate endangered species’ survival rates. Play now How maths helps dolphins |
| 5 | Predicting climate change | Why elaborate mathematical modelling is needed to predict ice break-up in Antarctica. Play now Predicting climate change |
| 6 | A vibrating lake | Using mathematical modeling to understand the fluctuations in the surface levels of Lake Wakatipu. Play now A vibrating lake |
| 7 | Why is maths useful? | How the behaviour of the world around us can be understood better through mathematics. Play now Why is maths useful? |
| 8 | Who invented Calculus? | The birth of calculus resulted in controversy: who got there first? Play now Who invented Calculus? |
| 9 | Fermat’s ideas | An explanation of some of Fermat’s discoveries. Play now Fermat’s ideas |
| 10 | Fermat and John Wallis | How Fermat communicated his findings to Wallis. Play now Fermat and John Wallis |
| 11 | Isaac Newton’s input | Newton invents the binomial theorem and publishes his great work Principia Mathematica. Play now Isaac Newton’s input |
| 12 | New insights emerge | Leibniz and the physicist Huygens work together. Play now New insights emerge |
| 13 | The Newton-Leibniz dispute | How the birth of calculus was a truly international effort. Play now The Newton-Leibniz dispute |
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