Math! Science! History!

René Descartes is famous for Cogito, ergo sum and his revolutionary approach to philosophy and mathematics. But he also left behind a mysterious 16-page manuscript written in code.
In this episode, we uncover the story of Descartes' hidden notebook, the waterlogged manuscripts that nearly disappeared, and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz's dramatic attempt to decipher the coded pages.
At the center of the mystery is a mathematical relationship involving the vertices, edges, and faces of three-dimensional shapes. Today expressed as V − E + F = 2, this relationship became associated with Leonhard Euler and is closely connected to the development of topology.
We'll explore why this mathematics mattered in the seventeenth century, why Descartes may have feared revealing his ideas, and how the mathematics of shapes and connectivity eventually became relevant to our modern digital world.
3 Things You'll Learn
1. Why Descartes wrote in code
The story behind Cogitata Privata, Descartes' "I proceed masked" philosophy, and the secret manuscript that disappeared after Leibniz examined it.
2. How V − E + F = 2 works
Using cubes and pyramids, we'll see how vertices, edges, and faces combine to produce a remarkably consistent mathematical relationship.
3. Why this old mathematics still matters
The episode connects the history of polyhedra to topology and modern applications such as 3D computer graphics and digital modeling.
 
Sources
Amir D. Aczel, Descartes's Secret Notebook: A True Tale of Mathematics, Mysticism, and the Quest to Understand the Universe
David S. Richeson, Euler's Gem: The Polyhedron Formula and the Birth of Topology
Peter J. Federico, Descartes on Polyhedra: A Study of the "De solidorum elementis"
Matthew L. Jones, The Good Life in the Scientific Revolution
Frances A. Yates, The Rosicrucian Enlightenment
Johannes Kepler, The Harmony of the World
René Descartes, Discourse on the Method
Full source list appears in the episode transcript at https://www.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
LinkedIn: Gabrielle Birchak | LinkedIn
YouTube: Math! Science! History! - YouTube

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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
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Scientists have officially identified a new wild cat species in Bolivia and a new snake species from New Guinea—and one of them is named after Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash. But these discoveries are about much more than a cute cat and a rock-star snake.
In this episode of How Did We Get Here? Science News Tuesday, we look at how scientists identify new species, why some animals can remain hidden in plain sight for centuries, and how modern genetics and genomics are changing our understanding of the tree of life.
From Carl Linnaeus and the origins of scientific classification to DNA analysis and museum specimens, we explore how scientists went from naming what they could see to uncovering evolutionary relationships that aren't visible to the naked eye.
And there's a bigger question: How many species are still out there waiting to be recognized—and could some disappear before we even know they exist?
Three Things You'll Learn
1.      How a "new" species can hide in plain sight.
2.      Why a snake was named after Slash, and how Slash rocks out for animals!
3.      How DNA changed the way we classify life
4.      Why discovering species matters for conservation
Welcome to the jungle: newly-discovered snake named after Slash from Guns N' Roses - Field Museum
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/see-the-first-new-species-of-cat-discovered-in-more-than-a-century-its-adorable
 
🔗 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!
YouTube: Math! Science! History! - YouTube
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/math.science.history
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/math-science-history/ 
🎧 Enjoying the Podcast?
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Leave a review! It helps more people discover the show!
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Music: All music is public domain and has no Copyright and no rights reserved.
Selections from The Black Book by Lloyd Rodgers
Until next time, carpe diem!

GH Hardy was a character. He had qualities that were odd, yet endearing. He was a rigorous mathematician. Yet, when he received a letter from Srinivasa Ramanujan, he changed. He learned a new way of equating mathematics, and developed a deep and loving respect for an individual who was never formally educated in math.
This is the story of a man who had the ability to see genius in another person, even when that person couldn't see it in themselves.
🔗 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!
YouTube: Math! Science! History! - YouTube
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/ 

🎧 Enjoying the Podcast?
☕ Support the Show: Coffee!! PayPal
Leave a review! It helps more people discover the show!
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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
Wondrous Waters from Pixabay
Nature Documentary by James Carter from Pixabay
Until next time, carpe diem!

In this episode of Math, Science, History, host Gabrielle Birchak does a repost about Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, a 19-year-old prodigy whose curiosity during a two-week sea voyage in 1930 led to a groundbreaking discovery. While sailing from India to England, Chandrasekhar, armed only with a notebook and the vast expanse of the ocean, began questioning the fate of stars after they exhausted their fuel.
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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Checking out our merch: https://www.mathsciencehistory.com/the-store
Music: All music is public domain and has no Copyright and no rights reserved.
On Matters of Consequence from The Little Prince by Lloyd Rodgers
Until next time, carpe diem!

What happens when women gather?
Throughout the eighteenth century, women across Europe began creating intellectual communities where they could discuss science, mathematics, philosophy, politics, literature, and medicine. During the Enlightenment, these gatherings helped women challenge the idea that intellectual discovery belonged exclusively to men.
Women such as Laura Bassi, Maria Gaetana Agnesi, Émilie du Châtelet, Catharine Macaulay, Caroline Herschel, and many others built on one another's work and created a path for future generations of women in science.
And that path matters far beyond science. When women gather, exchange knowledge, encourage one another, and make room for the next woman, they can change science, politics, education, and society.
Resources
• Read the original "When Women Gather" article
• Download my list of eighteenth-century women in science
• Laura Bassi,  University of Bologna
• Émilie du Châtelet's translation of Newton's Principia,  Bibliothèque nationale de France
• A Vindication of the Rights of Woman,  Library of Congress
• Caroline Herschel,  Royal Astronomical Society
 🔗 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
YouTube: Math! Science! History! - YouTube
Instagram: https://www.Instagram.com/GabrielleBirchak  
🎧 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 2027, carpe diem!