What's in a number?

Numbers allow scientists to develop ideas about the world that would be indescribable in words. We communicate with numbers, but they also tell stories – of how our minds work, of our capacity to understand the universe, of our history and our future. Tonight “Equinox” enters the extraodinary, complex and beautiful world of numbers. This original and artistic film, mixing science and surrealism, features verse by the scientific poetry writer Lavinia Greenlaw. It is about the nature of mathematics, explaining complex issues so they are accessible to anyone. The programme focuses on the similarities between maths and art and investigates why certain numbers are crucial in understanding our world. It asks why some of us are better at maths than others, and studies the role numbers play in the search for alien life. It also questions whether numbers are concepts we have invented, or discoveries existing independently of us – a natural language of the universe. And it follows the scientists who dedicate their lives to numbers, who find them beautiful, and thrilling. Could it be that Maths is the new rock´n´roll? Why is that some people seem to be born better at maths than others? “I think there are differences in the numerical abilities that people are born with. There are some people that find it extremely difficult to deal with even very simple number problems... They´re just born number-blind. “ Brian Butterworth is a psychologist with the Mathematical Cognitive Research Group. He studies patients such as Craig Ward, who, despite being a qualified psychologist himself, considers numbers to be a foreign language. He cannot even work whether one number is bigger than another. Studies of people with similar difficulties have revealed that they tend to have damaged their parietal lobe in the left side of their brain. It would seem that this part of the brain is dedicated to numerical reasoning, and that it is separate to the areas used for language, and for reasoning and inference. The implication, therefore, is that we are born with a sense of numbers, and some people will have a genetic advantage in their ability to grasp mathematical concepts. Historically, there is a general perception that numbers came from the Western world. The numerical system that is used today originated in India in 500 AD, and first emerged in Europe in around 1200 AD. But throughout the ages, care has been given to choose particular words to represent the numerals. Prof. George Gheverghese Joseph, of Manchester University, explains: “Words were chosen to represent particular numbers with the specific purpose that these particular words in turn could be part of a poem or a verse which would then be easily memorised by people. Therefore, the importance was not just to be able to work out mathematical problems, but to be able to express these problems in a language which was poetic, easily remembered, and so on.” Indeed, by the 11th century Indians were using poetry to express complex mathematical ideas at a time when Europeans had very limitated numeracy.