Two and a Half Millennia of Irrationality in Mathematics
Arrangören skriver:
The discovery of irrational numbers – especially the fact that √2 is not rational – is often attributed to the Pythagorean philosopher Hippasus. According to legend, this revelation so disturbed his fellow Pythagoreans that they drowned him in a lake. In this talk, we will explore the long (often unsuccessful) history of our attempts to understand irrationality, with the goal of explaining how mathematicians really think about these questions. Our journey will span from ancient Greece to the ancien régime, from 17th-century Basel to the present day.
Föreläsningen ges på engelska.
