328 - Shape - Jordan Ellenberg (rebroadcast)
12/8/20251 hr 11 min
We sit down with Jordan Ellenberg, a world-class geometer, who takes us on a far-ranging exploration of the power of geometry, which turns out to help us think better about practically everything
His writing has appeared in Slate, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Boston Globe, and he is the New York Times bestselling author of How Not to Be Wrong – but in this episode we will discuss his new book, Shape: The hidden geometry of information, biology, strategy, democracy and everything else.
Jordan Ellenberg’s Academic Website
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First 90 secondsSpeaker 00:00
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David McRaney· Host0:29
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Jordan Ellenberg· Guest1:05
(laughs) (laughs) Exactly right. So it's, you know, it's calling different things by the same name, places on a globe.
David McRaney· Host1:10
What? Oh my God. Do I have a note that says that ma- that's what math is, calling different things by the same names? Somebody said that.
Jordan Ellenberg· Guest1:17
That's what Poincaré said, one of his famous slogans.
David McRaney· Host1:19
There it is.
Jordan Ellenberg· Guest1:19
He had a lot. He was an aphoristic dude.
David McRaney· Host1:21
Uh, yep, mathematics is the art of giving the same name to different things, which is what I'm going to say for the rest of my life as if I understand that in totality like you do.