Numberphile

Numberphile
The logo of the channel
YouTube information
Channels
Created byBrady Haran
Presented by
Years active15 September 2011 (2011-09-15) – present
GenreEducational entertainment
Subscribers
  • 4.57 million (Numberphile)
  • 257 thousand (Numberphile2)
[1]
Total views
  • 681 million (Numberphile)
  • 20.27 million (Numberphile2)
[1]
Associated acts
Websitewww.numberphile.com
100,000 subscribers
  • 2012 (Numberphile)
  • 2016 (Numberphile2)
1,000,000 subscribers2014 (Numberphile)

Last updated: 14 October 2024

Numberphile is an educational YouTube channel featuring videos that explore topics from a variety of fields of mathematics.[2][3] In the early days of the channel, each video focused on a specific number, but the channel has since expanded its scope,[4] featuring videos on more advanced mathematical concepts such as Fermat's Last Theorem, the Riemann hypothesis[5] and Kruskal's tree theorem.[6] The videos are produced by Brady Haran, a former BBC video journalist and creator of Periodic Videos, Sixty Symbols, and several other YouTube channels.[7] Videos on the channel feature several university professors, maths communicators and famous mathematicians.[8][9]

In 2018, Haran released a spin-off audio podcast titled The Numberphile Podcast.[10]

YouTube channel

[edit]

The Numberphile YouTube channel was started on 15 September 2011. Most videos consist of Haran interviewing an expert on a number, mathematical theorem or other mathematical concept.[11] The expert usually draws out their explanation on a large piece of brown paper and attempts to make the concepts understandable to the average, non-mathematician viewer.[12] It is supported by the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI) and Math for America.[13][14] Haran also runs the "Numberphile2" channel, which includes extra footage and further detail than the main channel.[15]

Reception

[edit]

Numberphile consistently rates among the top YouTube channels in math and education.[16][17][18][19][20] The channel was nominated for a Shorty Award in Education in 2016.[21] The New York Times said that, "at Numberphile, mathematicians discourse, enthusiastically and winningly, on numbers", and The Independent described the channel as "insanely popular".[22][23] The Sunday Times said, "The mathematical stars of social media, such as James Grime and Matt Parker, entertain legions of fans with glorious videos demonstrating how powerful and playful maths can be."[24]

New Scientist listed Numberphile as one of the top ten science channels on YouTube in 2019.[25]

In 2024, Brady Haran was awarded Christopher Zeeman Medal recognising excellence in the communication of mathematics for his work, including Numberphile.[26]

Contributors

[edit]

The Numberphile channel has hosted a wide array of mathematicians, computer scientists, scientists and science writers, including:[27]

The Numberphile Podcast

[edit]
The Numberphile Podcast
Presentation
Hosted byBrady Haran
GenreInterview
LanguageEnglish
Length25–75 minutes
Publication
Original release4 November 2018 (2018-11-04)
Related
Related shows
Websitewww.numberphile.com/podcast

Haran started a podcast titled The Numberphile Podcast in 2018 as a sister project. The podcast focuses more heavily on the lives and personalities of the subjects of the videos.[62]

No.TitleRun TimeOriginal release date
1"The Hope Diamond – with 3Blue1Brown"1:03:204 November 2018 (2018-11-04)
2"Fermat’s Last Theorem – with Ken Ribet"48:2221 November 2018 (2018-11-21)
3"Delicious Problems – with Hannah Fry"52:0016 December 2018 (2018-12-16)
4"The Klein Bottle Guy – with Cliff Stoll"59:088 January 2019 (2019-01-08)
5"The Math Storyteller – with Simon Singh"1:11:3611 February 2019 (2019-02-11)
6"Parker Square – with Matt Parker"52:0424 February 2019 (2019-02-24)
7"A Proof in the Drawer – with David Eisenbud"1:15:207 April 2019 (2019-04-07)
8"The Offensive Lineman – with John Urschel"36:4314 May 2019 (2019-05-14)
9"The Singing Banana – with James Grime"1:13:2120 May 2019 (2019-05-20)
10"The C-Word – talking Calculus with Steven Strogatz"51:1717 June 2019 (2019-06-17)
11"The Number Collector – with Neil Sloane"55:3614 August 2019 (2019-08-14)
12"Fame and Admiration – with Timothy Gowers"54:2522 October 2019 (2019-10-22)
13"The Badly Behaved Prime – with James Maynard"41:3810 November 2019 (2019-11-10)
14"Coffin Problems – with Edward Frenkel"1:21:393 December 2019 (2019-12-03)
15"Champaign Mathematician – with Holly Krieger"40:0013 December 2019 (2019-12-13)
16"Gondor Calls for Aid – with Kit Yates"28:1831 March 2020 (2020-03-31)
17"Crystal Balls and Coronavirus – with Hannah Fry"44:5510 April 2020 (2020-04-10)
18"The Legendary John Conway (1937–2020)"38:0113 April 2020 (2020-04-13)
19"The Accidental Streamer – with 3Blue1Brown"33:0519 April 2020 (2020-04-19)
20"The Parker Quiz – with Matt Parker"55:3421 May 2020 (2020-05-21)
21"The Happy Twin – with Ben Sparks"1:02:2127 May 2020 (2020-05-27)
22"The Numeracy Ambassador – with Simon Pampena"1:00:151 July 2020 (2020-07-01)
23"The Mathematical Showman – Ron Graham (1935–2020)"39:0213 July 2020 (2020-07-13)
24"The Third Cornet – with Katie Steckles"59:4924 July 2020 (2020-07-24)
25"Why Did the Mathematician Cross the Road? – with Roger Penrose"1:05:168 August 2020 (2020-08-08)
26"The Importance of Numbers – with Tim Harford"47:2912 September 2020 (2020-09-12)
27"Nursery Rhymes and Numbers – with Alan Stewart"54:065 October 2020 (2020-10-05)
28"Quiz Shows and Math Anxiety – with Bobby Seagull"1:24:2623 October 2020 (2020-10-23)
29"Club Automatic – with Alex Bellos"54:1725 November 2020 (2020-11-25)
30"Why Study Mathematics – with Vicky Neale"45:118 December 2020 (2020-12-08)
31"Statistics and Saving Lives – with Jennifer Rogers"55:5011 December 2020 (2020-12-11)
32"Rockstar Epidemiologists – with Adam Kucharski"45:102 February 2021 (2021-02-02)
33"The High Jumping Cosmologist – with Katie Mack"54:5325 February 2021 (2021-02-25)
34"Beauty in the Messiness – with Philip Moriarty"39:053 April 2021 (2021-04-03)
35"The Naked Mathematician – with Tom Crawford"58:1231 May 2021 (2021-05-31)
36"A Chance at Immortality – with Marcus du Sautoy"51:2926 July 2021 (2021-07-26)
37"Making Sense of Infinity – with Asaf Karagila"53:2728 August 2021 (2021-08-28)
38"Google's 'DeepMind' does Mathematics"37:022 December 2021 (2021-12-02)
39"The Little Star – with Zvezdelina Stankova"58:2014 January 2022 (2022-01-14)
40"An Infinite Debt – with Christopher Havens (Prisoner #349034)"49:5013 February 2022 (2022-02-13)
41"The First and Last Digits of Pi"42:2614 March 2022 (2022-03-14)
42"A Passion for Big Numbers (and Liverpool FC) – with Tony Padilla"50:4118 April 2022 (2022-04-18)
43"The Orchid Room and Cancer – with Hannah Fry"36:5129 May 2022 (2022-05-29)
44"An Educated Adult – with Tadashi Tokieda"1:13:4511 July 2022 (2022-07-11)
45"Finding a Path – with Tatiana Toro"43:3913 December 2022 (2022-12-13)
46"A Chain of Chance – with Michael Merrifield"1:06:1718 January 2023 (2023-01-18)
47"An A-Class Reject – with Ed Copeland"1:04:1822 February 2023 (2023-02-22)
48"Yes, I accept the Fields Medal – with James Maynard"27:593 August 2023 (2023-08-03)
49"Finding Your Place – with Federico Ardila"54:5723 August 2023 (2023-08-23)
50"The Math of Movies – with Walt Hickey"51:2412 October 2023 (2023-10-12)
51"A Very Bad Estimator – with Donald Knuth"54:2616 January 2024 (2024-01-16)
52"The Hyper-Curious Billionaire – Jim Simons (1938-2024)"37:506 June 2024 (2024-06-06)
53"Winnie the Math Whiz – with Danica McKellar"45:192 July 2024 (2024-07-02)
54"The Secret Math Journal – with Ellen Eischen"53:4530 July 2024 (2024-07-30)

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "About Numberphile". YouTube.
  2. ^ Schultz, Colin. "The Great Debate Over Whether 1+2+3+4..+ ∞ = −1/12". Smithsonian Magazine.
  3. ^ Ryan, Jackson. "Earth is getting a black box to record events that lead to the downfall of civilization". CNET. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  4. ^ Merow, Sophia D. (2 January 2024). "A Duodecade of Numberphile: The "Original Maths YouTube Channel" Turns 12". Math Horizons. 31 (1): 20–23. doi:10.1080/10724117.2023.2224682. ISSN 1072-4117.
  5. ^ Lamb, Evelyn. "Does 1+2+3... Really Equal −1/12?". Scientific American Blog Network. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  6. ^ Bennett, Jay (20 October 2017). "The Enormity of the Number TREE(3) Is Beyond Comprehension". Popular Mechanics. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  7. ^ Lloyd, Robert (1 April 2016). "As VidCon gets underway, science presenters rule the Web". Los Angeles Times.
  8. ^ Overbye, Dennis (3 February 2014). "In the End, It All Adds Up to – 1/12". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  9. ^ Hershberger, Scott (November 2022). "The World of YouTube Math Communication" (PDF). Notices Of The American Mathematical Society.
  10. ^ "The Numberphile Podcast". Brady Haran. 11 November 2018. Retrieved 25 December 2018.
  11. ^ GrrlScientist (5 March 2012). "145 and the melancoil: What do narcissistic numbers and happy numbers share with the wild events that transpire when mathematicians visit the pub?". The Guardian.
  12. ^ Swanson, Ana (1 March 2016). "ECONOMIC POLICY: The eerie math that could predict terrorist". The Washington Post.
  13. ^ Numberphile sponsors Mathematical Sciences Research Institute
  14. ^ Numberphile Nominated in Education 8th Annual Shorty Awards
  15. ^ Haran, Brady. "Numberphile2". YouTube. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
  16. ^ Kharbach, Med (18 December 2022). "Best YouTube Math Channels". YouTube Channels for Teachers.
  17. ^ Michelle, Jacqueline (21 December 2022). "Top 10 Best Math YouTube Channels". History-Computer.com.
  18. ^ "Maths Youtube Channels: The best Maths youtube channels from thousands of youtubers on the web ranked by subscribers, views, and video counts". feedspot.com. 10 May 2023.
  19. ^ "43 Best Math YouTube Channels Ranked by Popularity: #2 Numberphile". youneedchannels.com. 20 November 2022.
  20. ^ "17 Best Math Youtube Channels to Study Mathematics". Abakcus. 24 January 2023.
  21. ^ "The 8th Annual Shorty Award". Alexis Joy. 19 January 2016.
  22. ^ Hale, Mike (24 April 2012). "Genres Stretch, for Better and Worse, as YouTube Takes On TV". The New York Times.
  23. ^ Usborne, Simon (31 October 2014). "Stand-up and Be Counted". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  24. ^ Fry, Hannah (8 December 2019). "Teach children to fall in love with maths and they can count on it for life". The Sunday Times.
  25. ^ Stokel-Walker, Chris (20 February 2019). "YouTube science videos: The channels you should subscribe to". New Scientist. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  26. ^ "Brady Haran wins the 2024 Christopher Zeeman Medal". London Mathematical Society. London Mathematical Society. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
  27. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Guest speakers on Numberphile MSRI
  28. ^ Haran, Brady (6 July 2018). "All in Federico Ardila". Numberphile.
  29. ^ "Johnny Ball – Russian Multiplication – Numberphile". YouTube. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  30. ^ "42 is the new 33 – Numberphile". YouTube. 12 March 2019.
  31. ^ Qureshi, Zainab (4 May 2020). ""Numberphile" sponsors mathematics professor". The Daily Illini. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  32. ^ "Hasse Principle – Numberphile". YouTube. 1 June 2016.
  33. ^ Haran, Brady. "Tom Crawford on Numberphile". YouTube.
  34. ^ Haran, Brady. "Zsuzsanna Dancso on Numberphile". YouTube.
  35. ^ Guardian Staff (4 December 2021). "From a Sex and the City sequel to Halo Infinite: a complete guide to this week's entertainment". the Guardian.
  36. ^ Haran, Brady. "Ron Graham on Numberphile". YouTube.
  37. ^ Haran, Brady. "James Grime on Numberphile". YouTube.
  38. ^ Haran, Brady (3 June 2019). "All in Edmund Harriss". Numberphile.
  39. ^ Haran, Brady. "Gordon Hamilton on Numberphile". YouTube.
  40. ^ "Statistics, Storks, and Babies – Numberphile". YouTube. 25 August 2020.
  41. ^ Lamb, Evelyn. "Holly Krieger's Favorite Theorem". Scientific American Blog Network. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  42. ^ "Primes without a 7 – Numberphile". YouTube. 20 November 2019.
  43. ^ "Little Fibs – Numberphile". YouTube. 2 June 2016.
  44. ^ Haran, Brady (19 December 2022). "All in Tony Padilla". Numberphile.
  45. ^ Haran, Brady. "Simon Pampena on Numberphile". YouTube.
  46. ^ "Why Did The Mathematician Cross The Road? – with Roger Penrose". YouTube. 8 August 2020.
  47. ^ "210 is VERY Goldbachy – Numberphile". YouTube. 28 May 2017.
  48. ^ Haran, Brady. "Henry Segerman on Numberphile". YouTube.
  49. ^ "Mobius Bridges and Buildings – Numberphile". YouTube. 9 April 2014.
  50. ^ "Billionaire Mathematician – Numberphile". YouTube. 13 May 2015.
  51. ^ Haran, Brady. "Neil Sloane on Numberphile". YouTube.
  52. ^ Haran, Brady. "Ben Sparks on Numberphile". YouTube.
  53. ^ Haran, Brady. "Katie Steckles on Numberphile". YouTube.
  54. ^ "The World's Best Mathematician (*) – Numberphile". YouTube. 14 March 2017.
  55. ^ "Stable Rollers – Numberphile". YouTube. 6 March 2017.
  56. ^ "The Shape of DNA – Numberphile". YouTube. 26 October 2015.
  57. ^ Haran, Brady. "Cedric Villani on Numberphile". YouTube. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
  58. ^ "Card Flipping Proof – Numberphile". YouTube. 3 February 2019.
  59. ^ Haran, Brady. "Grant Sanderson on Numberphile". YouTube. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
  60. ^ Haran, Brady. "Ayliean MacDonald on Numberphile". YouTube. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
  61. ^ Haran, Brady. "Matt Henderson on Numberphile". YouTube. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
  62. ^ Haran, Brady (11 November 2018). "The Numberphile Podcast". Brady Haran. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
[edit]