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I look forward to every Numberphile (and Sixty Symbols and Deep Sky and ...) video. I am pleased to hear that Brady's questions are off-the-cuff. They're so o

I look forward to every Numberphile (and Sixty Symbols and Deep Sky and ...) video. I am pleased to hear that Brady's questions are off-the-cuff. They're so on-point that I thought they may have been discussed with the guest beforehand. The 1+2+3+4+... = -1/12 video still seems a bit of a cheat, though! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-I6XTVZXww https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-I6XTVZXww

Waterluvian 3y ago
Wow I always assumed they were a loaded set of prepared questions.
jstx1 3y ago
> The 1+2+3+4+... = -1/12 video still seems a bit of a cheat, though! Because in that video they do invalid operations. Compare it to how 3blue1brown handles this - https://youtu.be/sD0NjbwqlYw?si=js8taa28UcevI0Jg&t=1166 https://youtu.be/sD0NjbwqlYw?si=js8taa28UcevI0Jg&t=1166 - the video is on the Riemann zeta function and my timestamp is on his comment about -1/12 at the end. But trying to explain something in a nuanced way doesn't get the same views as dumbing it down and coming up with a clickbait title (not that 3blue1brown is struggling for views). I understand that the two channels have somewhat different objectves and approaches but in this case one of them strikes me as much better. The top comment under the 3blue1brown video addresses this too - you don't need to additionally mystify math.
- OldGuyInTheClub 3y ago
  Yes, I kept waiting for them to "fess up" at the end but they didn't. Mathologer called them out on it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuIIjLr6vUA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuIIjLr6vUA
- concordDance 3y ago
  3blue1brown is the better channel imo. More interesting.
  - jgalt212 3y ago
    perhaps on 1 v 1 basis, but Brady's total output volume and quality across all his channels is probably unparalleled in the realm of general science outreach and education.
  - vanderZwan 3y ago
    They both have completely different purposes, despite both being about maths. 3b1b is a channel with the goal to teach math topics in the clearest way possible. Numberphile is about interviews with mathematicians telling stories which happen to be "in mathematics". If you want to get a better understanding of a maths topic you're currently studying, 3b1b is the clear winner. If you want to get people to wonder about the diversity of maths topics out there, Numberphile is the better option. Not to mention the part where it humanizes mathematicians themselves. Instead of thinking of Neil Sloane in the abstract as "the guy who started OEIS", I now have a picture of a nerdy, sweet grandpa who loves to talk about integer sequences.
    - OldGuyInTheClub 3y ago
      This is spot on. Of all the Numberphile videos I've seen, the interviews with Conway, Graham, and Ribet stand out - as much for the non-mathematical undercurrent as the math itself. Haran built up the credibility to get access to those guys and that's no mean feat. I've also learned a lot about specific math topics from 3b1b. It takes me a few tries to get through any video since the soundtrack causes me to doze off. Would love it if he would release versions with just his narration.
erk__ 3y ago
The interview he did on Adam Savage's Tested channel was really interesting with regards to how he got started and how he works in general. https://youtu.be/7Bia-dNcBm4 https://youtu.be/7Bia-dNcBm4
- vanderZwan 3y ago
  In the early minutes they mention his time at the BBC - I wonder if his website articles are still in the online BBC archives somewhere.
  - erk__ 3y ago
    A quick search on google makes some show up [0], though it seems that the videos are no longer accessible. They are distributed in a ".ram" file which have a rtsp:// url which seems to be unreachable. [0]: https://www.bbc.co.uk/england/eastmidlandstoday/ican/index.shtml https://www.bbc.co.uk/england/eastmidlandstoday/ican/index.s...
vanderZwan 3y ago
Brady is genuinely one of the best science interviewers, he seems to almost always intuit exactly where the gap in the explanation is that the interviewed person should clarify
MatthewWilkes 3y ago
That video was enough for me to lose all interest in this channel. Misrepresenting basic maths with something obtuse that is obviously false pushes people away from the discipline.

Waterluvian 3y ago

Wow I always assumed they were a loaded set of prepared questions.

jstx1 3y ago

> The 1+2+3+4+... = -1/12 video still seems a bit of a cheat, though! Because in that video they do invalid operations. Compare it to how 3blue1brown handles this - https://youtu.be/sD0NjbwqlYw?si=js8taa28UcevI0Jg&t=1166 https://youtu.be/sD0NjbwqlYw?si=js8taa28UcevI0Jg&t=1166 - the video is on the Riemann zeta function and my timestamp is on his comment about -1/12 at the end. But trying to explain something in a nuanced way doesn't get the same views as dumbing it down and coming up with a clickbait title (not that 3blue1brown is struggling for views). I understand that the two channels have somewhat different objectves and approaches but in this case one of them strikes me as much better. The top comment under the 3blue1brown video addresses this too - you don't need to additionally mystify math.

OldGuyInTheClub 3y ago
Yes, I kept waiting for them to "fess up" at the end but they didn't. Mathologer called them out on it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuIIjLr6vUA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuIIjLr6vUA
concordDance 3y ago
3blue1brown is the better channel imo. More interesting.
- jgalt212 3y ago
  perhaps on 1 v 1 basis, but Brady's total output volume and quality across all his channels is probably unparalleled in the realm of general science outreach and education.
- vanderZwan 3y ago
  They both have completely different purposes, despite both being about maths. 3b1b is a channel with the goal to teach math topics in the clearest way possible. Numberphile is about interviews with mathematicians telling stories which happen to be "in mathematics". If you want to get a better understanding of a maths topic you're currently studying, 3b1b is the clear winner. If you want to get people to wonder about the diversity of maths topics out there, Numberphile is the better option. Not to mention the part where it humanizes mathematicians themselves. Instead of thinking of Neil Sloane in the abstract as "the guy who started OEIS", I now have a picture of a nerdy, sweet grandpa who loves to talk about integer sequences.
  - OldGuyInTheClub 3y ago
    This is spot on. Of all the Numberphile videos I've seen, the interviews with Conway, Graham, and Ribet stand out - as much for the non-mathematical undercurrent as the math itself. Haran built up the credibility to get access to those guys and that's no mean feat. I've also learned a lot about specific math topics from 3b1b. It takes me a few tries to get through any video since the soundtrack causes me to doze off. Would love it if he would release versions with just his narration.

erk__ 3y ago

The interview he did on Adam Savage's Tested channel was really interesting with regards to how he got started and how he works in general. https://youtu.be/7Bia-dNcBm4 https://youtu.be/7Bia-dNcBm4

vanderZwan 3y ago
In the early minutes they mention his time at the BBC - I wonder if his website articles are still in the online BBC archives somewhere.
- erk__ 3y ago
  A quick search on google makes some show up [0], though it seems that the videos are no longer accessible. They are distributed in a ".ram" file which have a rtsp:// url which seems to be unreachable. [0]: https://www.bbc.co.uk/england/eastmidlandstoday/ican/index.shtml https://www.bbc.co.uk/england/eastmidlandstoday/ican/index.s...

vanderZwan 3y ago

Brady is genuinely one of the best science interviewers, he seems to almost always intuit exactly where the gap in the explanation is that the interviewed person should clarify

MatthewWilkes 3y ago

That video was enough for me to lose all interest in this channel. Misrepresenting basic maths with something obtuse that is obviously false pushes people away from the discipline.