Marcus du Sautoy: Symmetry, reality's riddle

http://www.ted.com The world turns on symmetry -- from the spin of subatomic particles to the dizzying beauty of an arabesque. But there's more to it than meets the eye. Here, Oxford mathematician Marcus du Sautoy offers a glimpse of the invisible numbers that marry all symmetrical objects.

TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Featured speakers have included Al Gore on climate change, Philippe Starck on design, Jill Bolte Taylor on observing her own stroke, Nicholas Negroponte on One Laptop per Child, Jane Goodall on chimpanzees, Bill Gates on malaria and mosquitoes, Pattie Maes on the "Sixth Sense" wearable tech, and "Lost" producer JJ Abrams on the allure of mystery. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, development and the arts. Closed captions and translated subtitles in a variety of languages are now available on TED.com, at http://www.ted.com/translate. Watch a highlight reel of the Top 10 TEDTalks at http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/top10

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Science & Technology

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• Sautoy
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• symmetry
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• reality
• beauty
• Galois
• Alhambra

[anoopmknair]

I gave the lecturer a standing ovation. :)

[OrderoftheWhiteHand]

Sautoy's books are absolutely amazing. They combine an ivy league mathematician's intellect with excellent writing skills. Sautoy was an excellent replacement for Dawkins and Imo, is a better writer.

[crudhousefull]

I think I missed the point of this completely. What's he going on about..and why is all that significant? Where does he start on the symmetries of nature?

[rockxtream]

@Gadgets7777777 Come back when you've learnt how to spell.

[odinheim]

@anoopmknair I think this is the kind of man that we need for the 21th century

[anoopmknair]

@Gadgets7777777

Well... I'm no mathematician, and I'm just fascinated by this lecture. Guess I need more reading on the subject. Dumbing down is what popular science is all about and as I mentioned I can't tell if he overdoes it. Thanks for comment anyway.

[Gadgets7777777]

@anoopmknair

Jesus Christ. Marcus du Sautoy is a knobhead. Hey may be a very capable Algebraic Number Theorist, but he has suffered from mass media overexposure, and the level to which his programs and "lectures" dum down is unforgivable. And what about his history of Mathematics programs? God, in the words of my History of Maths lecturer from Cambridge (Dr. Piers Bursill Hall), "Marcus Du Sautoy is the Oxford Professor of Stupid, and I have never seen so many fallacies in one program"

[weaselidiotu]

cut it out back there !!

[islandbuoy4]

. J. Kruger and D. Dunning attributed these ASYMMETRIC errors to differences in metacognitive skill. A replication study showed no evidence for mediation effects for any of several candidate variables ASYMMETRIC errors were expected because of statistical regression and the general better-than-average (BTA) heuristic. Consistent with this parsimonious model, errors were no longer ASYMMETRIC when either regression or the BTA effect was statistically removed.

ASYMMETRY is reality

SYMMETRY = god

[islandbuoy4]

@psychobollox I love it when the low brow humans bond and form a MOB...hahaha birds of a feather 'fuck together'? I googled Dunning-Kruger, I must I was ignorant of their THEORY DUH here is what I found... I must post it in 2 parts...BTW the word ASYMMETRY is mentioned..... hehehe PART 1 Abstract People who score low on a performance test overestimate their own performance relative to others, whereas high scorers slightly underestimate their own performance... cont'd...

[islandbuoy4]

BTW please explain why alpha=137 duh the Cabala is older than the IGNORANT SCIENCE TWATs that are befuddled by the number '137' duh in Hebrew the word Cabala has a gematria value of '137' which is older? the Cabala or the MODERN SCIENCE TWATS befuddled by '137' hahaha science is the NEW religion the SCIENCE SHEEPLE better brush up on their theology EWE folks have much to learn from the Cabala and the I Ching namaste

[islandbuoy4]

@psychobollox go to 2:38 ya wanker EVERYBODY KNOWS THAT FACES ARE ASYMMETRICAL as a matter of fact some folks have the ability to read the ASYMMETRICAL quirks and ticks our ASYMMETRICAL faces reveal so well that they outperform LIE DETECTORS. my BULLSHIT meter is FULL on. EWE folks are twats google "HOW EINSTEIN MADE ASYMMETRY DISAPPEAR IN 1905" written by a noted scholar, not me.... hahahaha I READ ALL DAY fuck off now time to go back to Cabala Schule lol