Main content

Henri Poincaré

Episode 8 of 10

Marcus du Sautoy argues that mathematics is the driving force behind modern science: Henri Poincaré, maths and problems.

This ten part history of mathematics from Newton to the present day, reveals the personalities behind the calculations: the passions and rivalries of mathematicians struggling to get their ideas heard. Professor Marcus du Sautoy shows how these masters of abstraction find a role in the real world and proves that mathematics is the driving force behind modern science.

Today Henri Poincaré, the man who proved there are certain problems that mathematics will never be able to answer: a mathematical insight that gave rise to chaos theory.

Producer: Anna Buckley

From 2010.

Download

Available now

15 minutes

Last on

Thu 22 Aug 201902:15
BBC Radio 4 Extra

More episodes

Previous

Georg Cantor

Next

Hardy and Ramanujan

See all episodes from A Brief History of Mathematics

Broadcasts

  • Wed 23 Jun 201015:45
    BBC Radio 4 FM
  • Thu 30 Sep 201023:45
    BBC Radio 4
  • Wed 12 Feb 201413:45
    BBC Radio 4
  • Wed 21 Aug 201914:15
    BBC Radio 4 Extra
  • Thu 22 Aug 201902:15
    BBC Radio 4 Extra

Podcast