Math! Science! History!

Your instinct to question evidence, challenge "the way things are," and fall in love with a hard problem isn't a personality quirk; it's the exact thinking that built modern science, anthropology, and mathematics. In this Flashcards Friday episode, I break down three quick "cards" inspired by Sir Francis Bacon, Margaret Mead, and Paul Erdős, and show how their most famous breakthroughs mirror instincts you already have. This one's a companion to last Wednesday's Pride Month special, but it stands entirely on its own.
🌐 Website: https://www.MathScienceHistory.com
☕Support the show: https://paypal.com/ncp/payment/PR7F7ST49GDNA
Three Things You'll Learn
·         How Francis Bacon's inductive reasoning became the foundation of the entire scientific method, and the personal risk he took living as a gay man in Elizabethan England
·         Why Margaret Mead's research in Samoa proved that "normal" is often just "what we decided and forgot we decided"
·         How Paul Erdős treated unsolved math problems like lifelong relationships, and why that's the key to real mathematical thinking
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Flashcard Music: Gift of the Stars from The Little Prince by Lloyd Rodgers. All music is in the public domain and has no Copyright and no rights reserved.
IMAGES:
Bacon, Francis (1561-1626) -- Portraits Portraits Appartient à l'ensemble documentaire - By Bibliothèque nationale de France, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=161117399
Margaret Mead - By Los Angeles Daily News - https://digital.library.ucla.edu/catalog/ark:/21198/zz0002pz57, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=117411558
Coming of Age cover (1928) – Public Domain - Coming of Age in Samoa: margaret mead : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
Paul Erdos - By Kmhkmh - Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=123828932
Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform. Leave a review! It helps more people discover the show! Share this episode with friends & fellow history buffs! Until next time, carpe diem!

The fastest way to solve your toughest problem isn't to grind harder on it, it's to rotate your focus across a few problems at once, the way legendary mathematician Paul Erdős juggled hundreds of unsolved problems at a time. In this episode, I break down the neuroscience of why this "interleaving" beats multitasking, and I hand you seven simple tools to build this Erdős Method into your work week and your home life. By the end, you'll have a system for turning stuck, vague problems into ones your brain quietly keeps solving in the background. 

🌐 Website: https://www.MathScienceHistory.com
☕Support the show: https://paypal.com/ncp/payment/PR7F7ST49GDNA
Three Things Listeners Will Learn
Why interleaving deep, undivided focus on one problem at a time, rotated across several, outperforms multitasking
How to build a personal "Erdős List" and use the 45/15 focus block to make steady progress on several problems each week
How small habits like the Wall Log, the Thinking Walk, and an End-of-Day Briefing turn your brain's background processing into visible progress
Subscribe to Math! Science! History! on your favorite podcast app and leave a review! It really does help more people find the show!
Momentum Music: All music is Public Domain Mark 1.0 Universal and has no Copyright and no rights reserved. Selections from Violin Machine: A Deconstruction of the Bach Concerto by Lloyd Rodgers
Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform Leave a review! It helps more people discover the show! Share this episode with friends & fellow history buffs!

Until next time, carpe diem!

- Gabrielle

For Pride Month, I profile eight scientists across eight identities in the 2SLGBTQI+ community. From the equations underpinning modern physics to the brain cells once dismissed as filler tissue, these researchers shaped the world we live in, often while hiding, fighting for, or paying dearly for who they were. Today I trace the lives of Sofia Kovalevskaya, Alan Turing, Margaret Mead, Ben Barres, Christopher Strachey, Magnus Hirschfeld, Paul Erdős, and Lozen, eight stories of brilliance that history tried, and failed, to erase.
3 Things You'll Learn in This Episode
How a forged marriage opened the door to modern physics. Sofia Kovalevskaya couldn't attend university as a woman in Russia, so she found another way in, and ended up proving foundational theorems that every engineer and physicist still relies on today.
Why the man who helped win WWII was punished by the country he saved. Alan Turing's codebreaking work is credited with shortening the war by years and saving millions of lives. Decades later, that same government prosecuted him for being gay, then put him on its currency.
How "supporting" brain cells turned out to be running the show. Ben Barres's research overturned decades of neuroscience consensus about glial cells, and his own experience transitioning gave him a firsthand look at gender bias in science that became one of the most cited accounts of its kind.
Featured Scientists & Resources
Sofia Kovalevskaya (1850–1891), Mathematician
Cooke, R. (1984). The Mathematics of Sonya Kovalevskaya. Springer-Verlag.
Koblitz, A. H. (1983). A Convergence of Lives: Sofia Kovalevskaia, Scientist, Writer, Revolutionary. Birkhäuser.
MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive
Alan Turing (1912–1954), Mathematician & Computer Scientist
Hodges, A. (1983). Alan Turing: The Enigma. Burnett Books.
Turing, A. M. (1950). "Computing Machinery and Intelligence." Mind, 59(236), 433–460.
The Alan Turing Institute
Bank of England: Alan Turing £50 note
Wellcome Sanger Institute Blog: "LGBTQ+ scientists who shaped history"
Margaret Mead (1901–1978), Anthropologist
Mead, M. (1928). Coming of Age in Samoa. William Morrow & Company.
Mead, M. (1975). "Bisexuality: A New Awareness." Redbook Magazine.
Banner, L. W. (2003). Intertwined Lives: Margaret Mead, Ruth Benedict, and Their Circle. Knopf.
QueerBio.com: Margaret Mead
Legacy Project Chicago: Margaret Mead
Ben Barres (1954–2017), Neurobiologist
Barres, B. A. (2018). The Autobiography of a Transgender Scientist. MIT Press.
Barres, B. A. (2006). "Does gender matter?" Nature, 442, 133–136.
Allen, N. J., & Barres, B. A. (2005). "Signaling between glia and neurons: focus on synaptic plasticity." Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 15(5), 542–548.
Wellcome Sanger Institute Blog: "LGBTQ+ scientists who shaped history"
Christopher Strachey (1916–1975), Computer Scientist
Campbell-Kelly, M. (1985). "Christopher Strachey, 1916–1975: A Biographical Note." IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, 7(1), 19–42.
Strachey, C. (1967). "Fundamental Concepts in Programming Languages." Published posthumously in Higher-Order and Symbolic Computation, 13 (2000), 11–49.
Computer History Museum: Christopher Strachey
Magnus Hirschfeld (1868–1935), Physician & Sexologist
Hirschfeld, M. (1910). Die Transvestiten. Alfred Pulvermacher.
Wolff, C. (1986). Magnus Hirschfeld: A Portrait of a Pioneer in Sexology. Quartet Books.
Encyclopædia Britannica: Magnus Hirschfeld
US Holocaust Memorial Museum: Magnus Hirschfeld
Science Museum Blog: "Magnus Hirschfeld and the Institute for Sexual Science"
Paul Erdős (1913–1996), Mathematician
Hoffman, P. (1998). The Man Who Loved Only Numbers: The Story of Paul Erdős and the Search for Mathematical Truth. Hyperion.
Schechter, B. (1998). My Brain Is Open: The Mathematical Journeys of Paul Erdős. Simon & Schuster.
ASBMB: "LGBTQ+ scientists in history"
The Erdős Number Project, Oakland University
Lozen (c. 1840–1889), Medicine Woman & Warrior
Ball, E. (1970). In the Days of Victorio: Recollections of a Warm Springs Apache. University of Arizona Press.
Aleshire, P. (1998). Warrior Woman: The Story of Lozen, Apache Warrior and Shaman. St. Martin's Press.
Multnomah County Library: "Notable Two-Spirit Figures in History"
Legends of America: "Lozen: Apache War Woman & Prophet"
New Mexico Historic Women Marker Program: "Little Sister Lozen"
🔗 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!
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/math.science.history
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/math-science-history/ 
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
Skylight by Aidan Pinset is from Pixabay and has no copyright
Documentary by Nikita Kondrashev is from Pixabay and has no copyright
Nature Documentary by Alisia Beats is from Pixabay and has no copyright
Modular Ambient by S Scheidl is from Pixabay and has no copyright
From Page to Practice by Brian Teoh and has no copyright
Old Tolchaco by Southwest Native American Indian Flute is from Pixabay and has no copyright 
Until next time, carpe diem!

What if the negotiation strategies, workplace rhythms, and relationship instincts you've relied on your whole life already had names in mathematics? In today's FLASHCARDS! episode of Math! Science! History!, I break down three foundational concepts from game theory: dominant strategy, tit for tat, and Nash equilibrium, and connect each one to the everyday decisions, compromises, and unspoken social contracts you navigate all the time. Whether you're a math enthusiast or someone who swore they "weren't a math person," this episode reveals that you've been doing game theory your entire life without even knowing it.
🃏 In This Episode, You Will Learn:
What a dominant strategy is and how to recognize when you're already using one, from sending that follow-up email to ordering your favorite dish at a restaurant.
The fascinating history of tit for tat, the surprisingly simple strategy that beat out complex algorithms in Robert Axelrod's famous 1980s tournament, and how it mirrors the unspoken rules of your closest relationships.
How a Nash equilibrium shows up in everyday conflict, and why the moment you and someone else silently agree to "stop pushing" is actually a mathematically stable outcome.
📚 Sources
Von Neumann's 1928 minimax theorem is widely considered the founding document of modern game theory. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimax_theorem
John Nash received the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 1994 for his pioneering analysis of equilibria in the theory of non-cooperative games. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/1994/nash/facts
Robert Axelrod's landmark book The Evolution of Cooperation (1984) explored how cooperation can emerge among self-interested agents, using his famous computer tournament in which tit for tat won. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Evolution_of_Cooperation
📣 Calls to Action
Subscribe & Review: If today's episode made you see your everyday decisions in a whole new light, please subscribe to Math! Science! History! and leave a review wherever you listen. It helps more curious minds find the show!
Share This Episode: Know someone who loves psychology, strategy, or really nails the follow-up email? Send them this episode; they're already game theorists and don't know it yet.
Keep Learning: Catch up on last week's full episode on the birth of game theory and Monday's episode on using these strategies in the workplace!
🔗 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
 🎧 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!

In this episode of Momentum Monday, I cover the unexpected power of game theory, not just for economists or chess players, but as a practical toolkit for smarter decisions in work, relationships, and personal habits. I break down three game-changing strategies: 
1) Know Your "Game" (mapping players, rules, and payoffs)
2) Build Your BATNA (your secret weapon for negotiation leverage)
3) Tilt the Game in Your Favor (shaping interactions for win-win outcomes)
Whether you're negotiating a raise, handling a tough conversation, or just trying to stick to your gym routine, these tactics will help you design your environment for success. Learn more about game theory's real-world applications here and how to apply BATNA in negotiations here.
What You'll Learn:
How to map your interactions like a game, identifying players, rules, and payoffs to make smarter decisions. (Source: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
Why BATNA (Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement) is your negotiation superpower, and how to build one. (Source: Harvard PON)
How to shape your environment and incentives to tilt outcomes in your favor, even in everyday situations.
Call to Action:🔹 Try it this week: Pick one interaction where you'll apply one of these power-ups. Notice how it changes your approach, and your results!🔹 Share your win: Tag me on social media @Math.Science.History with #MomentumMonday and tell me which strategy worked for you!🔹 Subscribe & Review: Help more people discover Momentum Monday by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Every review fuels the momentum!
🔗 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
 ☕ 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 Mark 1.0 Universal and has no Copyright and no rights reserved.
Selections from Violin Machine: A Deconstruction of the Bach Concerto by Lloyd Rodgers
Until next time, carpe diem!