Many puzzles have a long history, such as water pouring puzzles, where you need to measure (for example) one pint of water equipped only with an eight-pint and a five-pint jug. The mathematics behind the solution has many useful applications.
Meanwhile, paradoxes such as: “some men shave themselves; those that do not shave themselves are shaved by the barber: who shaves the barber?” lead us to deep questions about set theory.
We will discuss several examples and the related mathematics.
This lecture was recorded by Sarah Hart on 30th January 2024 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London
Sarah is Gresham Professor of Geometry.
She is also Professor Emerita of Mathematics at Birkbeck, University of London.
The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/m...
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