Some people discover math when they're young, and the joy of playing with numbers never leaves them. Jordan Ellenberg can remember staring at the sound holes in his parents' stereo system when he was six years old and noticing that whichever way he counted them – eight columns of six holes, or six rows of eight holes – the number was the same. It was the moment he realized what mathematics was, and it thrilled him.
I was not so lucky – or gifted. Math left me cold all the way through high school, after which I abandoned it entirely. Many decades later though, I found myself sitting in a radio studio listening to Jordan Ellenberg describe the mathematical constant known as "pi," and feeling a kind of exhilarated sense of wonder.
Jordan is a world-famous mathematician now. He's also my neighbor. We've recorded a few interviews together over the years and while I still think of myself as "bad at math," I will be forever grateful for the mind-blowing glimpses he's given me of the deep mathematical structure of the world. Even when I barely understand it, it's breathtakingly beautiful. Listen to this week's show "The Hidden Geometry of Everything" for our conversation about geometry and his new book "Shape," and see if you agree.
–Anne
PS: Lest I embarrass Joe Hardtke, our sound designer, I should mention that I did the Pi music mix myself, late at night, more than a decade ago. Let's just say that I’ve learned a lot since then, ok?