Episodes

  • Hobbes vs. Boyle: Who Decides Scientific Facts?

    Hobbes vs. Boyle: Who Decides Scientific Facts?
    Feb 3 2026
    Episode Overview In the 1660s, two towering thinkers, Thomas Hobbes and Robert Boyle, clashed over a strange new machine: the air pump. What looked like a technical disagreement about air and vacuum quickly became something much larger. This episode examines how Boyle's experimental approach and Hobbes's philosophical skepticism shaped the foundations of modern science, and why their dispute still echoes today in debates over expertise, public trust, and the role of scientists in public policy. From the invention of "virtual witnessing" to modern struggles with misinformation, this is a story about how facts become believable, and what happens when trust breaks down. What You'll Learn Why experiments alone do not create trust - You'll learn how Boyle's air-pump experiments required not just data, but carefully crafted descriptions and shared norms to make results credible beyond the room where they occurred. What Hobbes was really worried about - This episode explains why Hobbes objected to experimental science, not because he rejected evidence, but because he feared the political and social consequences of letting small groups "certify reality." How this 17th-century dispute explains modern science debates - From climate models to medical guidelines, you'll see how today's arguments over evidence, institutions, and public policy replay the same structural tensions Hobbes and Boyle exposed centuries ago. 📚 Resources & Further Reading Leviathan and the Air‑Pump - Steven Shapin & Simon Schaffer New Experiments Physico‑Mechanicall, Touching the Spring of the Air - Robert Boyle Royal Society - History & motto Nullius in verba Pew Research Center - Public trust in scientists and policy debates (Nov. 2024 report) Shapin, Steven. "Pump and Circumstance: Robert Boyle's Literary Technology." Social Studies of Science (1984) 🔗 Explore more on our website: mathsciencehistory.com 📚 To buy my book Hypatia: The Sum of Her Life on Amazon, visit https://a.co/d/g3OuP9h 🌍 Let's Connect!Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/mathsciencehistory.bsky.social Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/math.science.history Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mathsciencehistory LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/math-science-history/ Threads: https://www.threads.com/@math.science.history Mastodon: https://mathsciencehistory@mathstodon.xyz YouTube: Math! Science! History! - YouTube Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/mathsciencehistory 🎧 Enjoying the Podcast? ☕ Support the Show: Coffee!! PayPal Leave a review! It helps more people discover the show! Share this episode with friends & fellow history buffs! Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform Check out our merch: https://www.mathsciencehistory.com/the-store Music: All music is public domain and has no Copyright and no rights reserved. Selections from The Little Prince by Lloyd Rodgers Smooth Piano for Documentaries by Universefield from Pixabay Background Royalty Free Music - Emotional Piano by NotAIGenerated from Pixabay Ambiant Clean Piano by Alfarran Basalim from Pixabay Autumn Vibes by Clavier-Music from Pixabay Now You Are Here by Sergey Cheremisinov from Pixabay Until next time, carpe diem!
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    27 mins
  • FLASHCARDS! The Patience of the Sun Dagger

    FLASHCARDS! The Patience of the Sun Dagger
    Jan 30 2026
    The Sun Dagger on Fajada Butte in Chaco Canyon is a powerful reminder that understanding is built slowly. Long before textbooks and lab reports, careful observers tracked repeating patterns in light and season, and a community carried that knowledge forward. In today's Flashcards episode, we use the Sun Dagger as a practical thinking tool for modern life: watch first, listen second, explain last. It is a simple sequence that improves scientific judgment, reduces snap conclusions, and makes our relationships more accurate and humane. Three Flashcards from a Stone Calendar Watch first: patterns beat snapshots. - You will learn how to train yourself to notice what repeats over time, instead of overreacting to one data point, one headline, or one tense moment. Listen second: knowledge is a group project. - You will learn why strong conclusions often require other perspectives, conflicting results, and context you cannot access alone. Explain last: meaning should emerge, not be forced. - You will learn how delaying your explanation can reduce error, lower arrogance, and prevent real harm in science and everyday decisions. Links to Resources National Park Service overview of Fajada Butte and the Sun Dagger NPS article on archeoastronomy and the Sun Dagger concept 🔗 Explore more on our website: mathsciencehistory.com 📚 To buy my book Hypatia: The Sum of Her Life on Amazon, visit https://a.co/d/g3OuP9h 🌍 Let's Connect!Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/mathsciencehistory.bsky.social Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/math.science.history Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mathsciencehistory LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/math-science-history/ Threads: https://www.threads.com/@math.science.history Mastodon: https://mathsciencehistory@mathstodon.xyz YouTube: Math! Science! History! - YouTube Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/mathsciencehistory 🎧 Enjoying the Podcast? 🔗 Explore more on our website: mathsciencehistory.com ☕ Support the Show: Coffee!! PayPal Leave a review! It helps more people discover the show! Share this episode with friends & fellow history buffs! Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform Check out our merch: https://www.mathsciencehistory.com/the-store Music: All music is public domain and has no Copyright and no rights reserved. Selections from The Little Prince by Lloyd Rodgers Until next time, carpe diem!
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    10 mins
  • The Sun Dagger: How Ancient Puebloans Made Calendars from Sunlight

    The Sun Dagger: How Ancient Puebloans Made Calendars from Sunlight
    Jan 27 2026
    More than a thousand years ago, the Ancestral Puebloans built a working solar calendar without clocks, written mathematics, or mechanical instruments. Etched into stone at Fajada Butte in Chaco Canyon, the Sun Dagger used light and shadow to track solstices and equinoxes with remarkable precision. In this episode, we explore how the Sun Dagger worked, why its spiral design mattered, and what it reveals about community, long-term observation, and scientific thinking before modern technology. This is a story about astronomy, patience, and the shared human effort to understand time by watching the natural world carefully and collectively. Three Take-aways Watching the Sky: How the Sun Dagger Actually Worked – Learn how shifting sunlight, stone slabs, and spiral petroglyphs combined to create a precise solar calendar that could show not only when a solstice arrived, but how close the community was to it. Science Before Equations: Observation as Knowledge – Discover why the Sun Dagger is an example of observational science, built through repeated watching, long-term pattern recognition, and intergenerational knowledge rather than written formulas or instruments. Time as Community: Why Calendars Were Shared, Not Personal – Understand how tracking time was not an individual activity but a communal one, guiding ceremonies, gatherings, and social coordination while reinforcing shared responsibility and connection to the land. Resources & Further Reading National Park Service – Chaco Culture National Historical Park https://www.nps.gov/chcuHigh Altitude Observatory (NCAR) – The Sun Dagger of Fajada Butte https://www2.hao.ucar.edu/education/prehistoric-southwest/sun-daggerSofaer, Anna, David H. Sinclair, and Ray A. Doggett. "A Unique Solar Marking Construct." Science 206, no. 4416 (1979): 283–291. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1749388Aveni, Anthony F. Skywatchers. University of Texas Press.Krupp, E. C. Echoes of the Ancient Skies. Oxford University Press. Explore more on our website: mathsciencehistory.com To buy my book Hypatia: The Sum of Her Life on Amazon, visit https://a.co/d/g3OuP9h 🌍 Let's Connect!Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/mathsciencehistory.bsky.social Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/math.science.history Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mathsciencehistory LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/math-science-history/ Threads: https://www.threads.com/@math.science.history Mastodon: https://mathsciencehistory@mathstodon.xyz YouTube: Math! Science! History! - YouTube Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/mathsciencehistory 🎧 Enjoying the Podcast? ☕ Support the Show: Coffee!! PayPal Leave a review! It helps more people discover the show! Share this episode with friends & fellow history buffs! Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform Check out our merch: https://www.mathsciencehistory.com/the-store Music: All music is public domain and has no Copyright and no rights reserved. Selections from The Little Prince by Lloyd Rodgers Old Tolchaco by Arizona Guide from Pixabay A Tribute to Native Americans by Andrea Good from Pixabay Until next time, carpe diem!
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    19 mins
  • FLASHCARDS! The Hidden Physics of Shoveling Snow

    FLASHCARDS! The Hidden Physics of Shoveling Snow
    Jan 23 2026
    If you enjoy the hidden science behind everyday life, leave a review, subscribe to the podcast and share this episode with someone who is shoveling snow this winter. Shoveling snow looks simple, but it is one of the most punishing everyday tasks your body can perform. In this Flashcard Friday episode, we explore the physics hiding in plain sight every winter, from why lifting snow feels brutal to why wet snow seems impossibly heavy and why shovel design matters more than most people realize. This is not about grit or toughness. It is about gravity, force vectors, density, and torque, all acting on a human spine that was never designed to move heavy loads at arm's length. By the end of the episode, you will understand exactly why your back complains so loudly, and why physics is to blame. Three big scoops: Why Gravity Is Not Your Friend - Why lifting snow is far harder than pushing it, and how vertical forces and spinal torque make even small loads feel overwhelming. Why Wet Snow Is a Secret Weightlifter - How density transforms harmless-looking snow into a back-breaking mass, and why the same shovel can weigh several times more depending on snow type. Why Your Shovel Is Working Against You - How short shovels increase lever arms, magnify torque, and place unnecessary strain on your lower back, and why ergonomic designs actually make physical sense. Helpful Resources · NASA: Forces and Motion Basics – https://www1.grc.nasa.gov/beginners-guide-to-aeronautics/newtons-laws-of-motion/ Khan Academy: Torque and Rotational Motion – https://www.khanacademy.org/science/physics/torque-angular-momentumNIH: Back Injury Risk and Lifting Mechanics - https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8720246 Explore more on our website: mathsciencehistory.com To buy my book Hypatia: The Sum of Her Life on Amazon, visit https://a.co/d/g3OuP9h 🌍 Let's Connect!Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/mathsciencehistory.bsky.social Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/math.science.history Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mathsciencehistory LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/math-science-history/ Threads: https://www.threads.com/@math.science.history Mastodon: https://mathsciencehistory@mathstodon.xyz YouTube: Math! Science! History! - YouTube Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/mathsciencehistory 🎧 Enjoying the Podcast? 🔗 Explore more on our website: mathsciencehistory.com Do you want the ad-free podcast?! Visit us at Supercast at www.MathScienceHistory.Supercast.com - pick a tier, and immerse yourself without the ads! ☕ Support the Show: Coffee!! PayPal Leave a review! It helps more people discover the show! Share this episode with friends & fellow history buffs! Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform Check out our merch: https://www.mathsciencehistory.com/the-store Music: All music is public domain and has no Copyright and no rights reserved. Selections from The Little Prince by Lloyd Rodgers Until next time, carpe diem!
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    10 mins
  • REPOST! Laura Bassi, the First Female Physics Professor

    REPOST! Laura Bassi, the First Female Physics Professor
    Jan 20 2026

    Before Isaac Newton's ideas reshaped Europe, his work struggled to gain traction in Italy. This episode revisits the remarkable life of Laura Bassi, the first woman in history to hold an academic chair, and the physicist who championed Newtonian physics against fierce intellectual and social resistance.

    In 1776, Laura Bassi achieved a historic milestone, becoming the first woman in the world to hold a chair of experimental physics and the highest-paid lecturer at the University of Bologna. Her advocacy accelerated the acceptance of Newtonian physics in Italy and paved the way for future generations of women in science.

    This episode explores how intellect, persistence, and scientific curiosity allowed Laura Bassi to reshape physics education and secure her legacy as one of the most important figures in the history of women in STEM.

    🔗 Explore more on our website: mathsciencehistory.com
    📚 To buy my book Hypatia: The Sum of Her Life on Amazon, visit https://a.co/d/g3OuP9h

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    🎧 Enjoying the Podcast?

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    Music: All music is public domain and has no Copyright and no rights reserved.
    Selections from The Little Prince by Lloyd Rodgers

    Until next time, carpe diem!
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    13 mins
  • REPOST! Eponymy and the Sexagesimal Spiral

    REPOST! Eponymy and the Sexagesimal Spiral
    Jan 13 2026
    A viral multiplication spiral once attributed to Nikola Tesla opens the door to a much older mathematical story, one rooted in ancient Sumerian and Babylonian base-60 mathematics. In this episode, we explore how sexagesimal counting shaped everything from clocks and geometry to modern science, and how ideas are often misnamed after the most famous figure rather than the original innovator. Along the way, we unpack eponymy, the Matthew Effect, and why credit in science and math is rarely distributed fairly. Learn: 🌀 Why Base-60 Still Runs Our World How the Sumerian sexagesimal system underpins timekeeping, angles, geography, and trigonometry, and why it survived for thousands of years. 📐 The Truth Behind "Tesla's" Multiplication Map Where the multiplication spiral actually comes from, how it visually encodes multiples of 12 and 60, and why attributing it to Tesla is mathematically unnecessary. 📚 Eponymy, the Matthew Effect, and Who Gets Credit From Fibonacci to Pythagoras, Rosalind Franklin to Vera Rubin, we examine how scientific ideas are routinely named after the wrong people and what that reveals about power, prestige, and history. Featured Concepts & Figures · Sexagesimal (base-60) number systems · Sumerian and Babylonian mathematics · Tesla's Multiplication Map vs. the Sumerian Sexagesimal Spiral · Eponymy and Stigler's Law · The Matthew Effect and the Matilda Effect · Pythagorean triples and Plimpton-322 🔗 Explore more on our website: mathsciencehistory.com 📚 To buy my book Hypatia: The Sum of Her Life on Amazon, visit https://a.co/d/g3OuP9h 🌍 Let's Connect!Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/mathsciencehistory.bsky.social Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/math.science.history Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mathsciencehistory LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/math-science-history/ Threads: https://www.threads.com/@math.science.history Mastodon: https://mathsciencehistory@mathstodon.xyz YouTube: Math! Science! History! - YouTube Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/mathsciencehistory 🎧 Enjoying the Podcast? ☕ Support the Show: Coffee!! PayPal Leave a review! It helps more people discover the show! Share this episode with friends & fellow history buffs! Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform Check out our merch: https://www.mathsciencehistory.com/the-store Music: All music is public domain and has no Copyright and no rights reserved. Selections from The Little Prince by Lloyd Rodgers Until next time, carpe diem!
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    13 mins
  • REPOST: The Wake of HMS Challenger

    REPOST: The Wake of HMS Challenger
    Jan 6 2026
    In this repost episode of Math! Science! History!, Gabrielle Birchak speaks with Professor Gillen D'Arcy Wood, author of The Wake of the HMS Challenger: How a Legendary Victorian Voyage Tells the Story of Our Ocean's Decline. Together, they uncover how a nineteenth-century Royal Navy warship transformed into a floating laboratory and gave humanity its first global snapshot of the oceans. From discovering thousands of new species to inspiring NASA's Challenger shuttle, the expedition shaped modern oceanography and continues to inform today's conservation science. Wood's biocentric storytelling reminds us that to save our planet, we must first fall in love with it again, to be, as he says, re-enchanted by the living ocean that sustains us all. Three Things Listeners Will Learn How the HMS Challenger (1872–1876) became the first global oceanographic expedition, collecting temperature, depth, and biological data still used today. Why Gillen D'Arcy Wood's "biocentric" approach reframes history through the perspective of marine life rather than human explorers. What the voyage teaches us about modern ocean crises: from overfishing and warming seas to microplastics—and how species like the green turtle show that recovery is possible. Resources and Further Reading The Wake of the HMS Challenger by Gillen D'Arcy Wood - HarperCollins Publishers Explore more on our website: mathsciencehistory.com To buy my book Hypatia: The Sum of Her Life on Amazon, visit https://a.co/d/g3OuP9h Let's Connect!Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/mathsciencehistory.bsky.social Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/math.science.history Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mathsciencehistory LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/math-science-history/ Threads: https://www.threads.com/@math.science.history Mastodon: https://mathsciencehistory@mathstodon.xyz YouTube: Math! Science! History! - YouTube Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/mathsciencehistory 🎧 Enjoying the Podcast? ☕ Support the Show: Coffee!! PayPal Leave a review! It helps more people discover the show! Share this episode with friends & fellow history buffs! Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform Check out our merch: https://www.mathsciencehistory.com/the-store Music: All music is public domain and has no Copyright and no rights reserved. Selections from The Little Prince by Lloyd Rodgers Smooth Piano by Universefield Musinova - Travelling And Discovering (Marimba World Percussion) Documentary-Nikita Kondrashev Audio Editor: Podcast mixed by David Aviles Until next time, carpe diem!
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    38 mins
  • REPOST! The 2220 Holiday Puzzle!

    REPOST! The 2220 Holiday Puzzle!
    Dec 30 2025
    Set in the year 2220, this holiday puzzle episode blends science fiction, real scientific legacies, and mathematical reasoning into an immersive problem-solving adventure. The United Nations Time-Travel Division recruits four brilliant scientists, each descended from historically significant scientific families, and sends them back to 2019 with a radical mission: erase the year 2020 from the timeline. What follows is a multi-step logic and distance puzzle involving self-driving hover cars, state capitals, precise velocity calculations, and a final anagram that reveals what humanity might have gained if an entire year of global disruption never happened. This episode invites listeners to actively engage with math, geography, and history, using real tools like Google Maps to solve a futuristic mystery. What You'll Learn in This Episode 1. How Scientific Lineage Shapes Discovery Across Centuries - Meet four fictional descendants of real Nobel-winning scientists, including the Curie family, the Mosers, Isabella and Jerome Karle, and Jane and Alexander Marcet. This episode highlights how scientific knowledge, curiosity, and impact can echo across generations, shaping both history and imagined futures. 2. How Distance, Speed, and Direction Combine in Real-World Math - Using detailed velocity changes, directional turns, and travel times, listeners calculate the total linear distance each hover car travels to reach Niagara Falls. The puzzle reinforces applied math concepts, including unit conversion, cumulative distance, and approximation, all grounded in real geographic constraints. 3. How Geography and Logic Reveal Hidden Patterns - By tracing each scientist's route from an unknown state capital to Niagara Falls, listeners identify likely originating cities. The first letters of each capital form an anagram, encouraging pattern recognition and synthesis, and leading to a final conceptual answer tied to life without a pandemic. How the Puzzle Works Each scientist begins in a different U.S. state capital in 2019.Their hover cars follow a non-optimal, directional path at varying speeds and durations.The cars never travel over oceans, and all distances are measured in kilometers.Listeners are encouraged to use Google Maps' Measure Distance tool to approximate routes.Once the four starting capitals are identified, their initials form an anagram.Solving the anagram reveals a concept symbolizing a world without the disruptions of 2020. Questions the Episode Asks You to Solve How many kilometers did each scientist travel to reach Niagara Falls?Which U.S. state capital did each scientist originate from?What word or phrase emerges from the anagram of those capitals? This episode rewards careful listening, note-taking, and methodical reasoning, making it ideal for puzzle lovers, educators, and anyone who enjoys thoughtful holiday challenges. 🔗 Explore more on our website: mathsciencehistory.com 📚 To buy my book Hypatia: The Sum of Her Life on Amazon, visit https://a.co/d/g3OuP9h 🌍 Let's Connect!Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/mathsciencehistory.bsky.social Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/math.science.history Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mathsciencehistory LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/math-science-history/ Threads: https://www.threads.com/@math.science.history Mastodon: https://mathsciencehistory@mathstodon.xyz YouTube: Math! Science! History! - YouTube Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/mathsciencehistory 🎧 Enjoying the Podcast? ☕ Support the Show: Coffee!! PayPal Leave a review! It helps more people discover the show! Share this episode with friends & fellow history buffs! Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform Check out our merch: https://www.mathsciencehistory.com/the-store Music: All music is public domain and has no Copyright and no rights reserved. Selections from The Little Prince by Lloyd Rodgers Until next time, carpe diem! All music is public domain. Little Prince by Lloyd Rogers. We Wish You a Merry Christmas by the U.S. Naval Academy. Ambient 03 by Sscheidl at Pixabay. A Journey Beyond by Christian Bodhi.
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    15 mins