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BRADY HARAN: A pretend conversation.
Like, you know when you watch TV and the weather presenter
and the news presenter have that fake chat at the end?
JAMES GRIME: Oh, OK.
[INAUDIBLE].
BRADY HARAN: Yeah, OK.
Interesting.
That's an interesting equation you were
telling me about earlier.
JAMES GRIME: It was?
BRADY HARAN: OK.
Hello, everyone.
The camera's there.
We mustn't look at ourselves.
Hello, everyone.
I'm Brady from "Numberphile", and this is Dr. James Grime.
JAMES GRIME: Hello.
BRADY HARAN: James is in loads of "Numberphile" videos.
He's the most frequent guest.
JAMES GRIME: Can't get rid of me.
BRADY HARAN: Can't get rid of you.
JAMES GRIME: Bad penny.
BRADY HARAN: One of our most popular guests as well.
And I know a lot of people were really interested
to hear from him.
We've been filming upstairs at "Numberphile" HQ, making about
five or six videos, we did?
JAMES GRIME: Yes, I think we did.
BRADY HARAN: About five or six videos that we've recorded,
which will be appearing on "Numberphile" in the weeks and
months to come.
But while James was here, as I told many of you yesterday, I
thought I would take advantage of the fact he was here on
Valentine's Day.
JAMES GRIME: Yeah, isn't it a bit odd that we're spending
Valentine's Day together?
BRADY HARAN: Yeah, it was an unfortunate scheduling.
It was the only day you were free.
JAMES GRIME: What do you mean unfortunate?
And what do you mean it's the only day I'm free?
BRADY HARAN: That wasn't [INAUDIBLE].
JAMES GRIME: This is going downhill.
BRADY HARAN: Let's stop that altogether.
Let's talk to James about the things you want to talk about.
A bunch of people posted questions yesterday.
So I'm going to ask a few of them, so those people have a
chance to be involved, in case they're not here.
And obviously you can post questions yourselves now.
We'll be following it, and I'll try and get some of them
to James as well.
The first thing I thought we should deal with is, I know a
lot of people may be aware-- some people may not be aware--
that James has his own YouTube channel.
He's been doing this far longer than
"Numberphile" has existed.
It's called singingbanana.
JAMES GRIME: Course it is.
BRADY HARAN: I don't want to talk about it too much,
because I would rather you all watched my channels than
James' channel.
But a lot of you asked about it, so I'm not
going to ignore it.
And it's full of excellent stuff.
There were three things that came up most frequently.
The first thing people want to know is why your channel's
called singingbanana.
And then can you also tell us a bit about the future of it?
Because obviously, with all your commitments, it's a bit
more sporadic in its uploading.
What's happening with it?
What's the status of it?
And lastly, a lot of people have asked, as you do that and
I do my things on YouTube, how did we come to meet via?
And so can you tell people about it?
I mean, I know the answer to that question, but if you can
tell people those three things.
JAMES GRIME: OK.
So I do have my own YouTube channel, singingbanana.
Of course it is.
Why wouldn't it be called singingbanana?
No, singingbanana is my online name, and it has been since I
was, like, 17.
So--
oh, by the way, if you search singingbanana, if you find
another singingbanana online, don't harass them, because it
might not be me.
I know there's some other people who have decided those
two words together would be fun.
But it's my online name.
So my channel wasn't meant to be anything more than my
personal YouTube channel.
So that's why it's called singingbanana.
I've been doing it for five years now, in March.
It will be my fifth year, measuring from
my first maths video.
What were the other questions I was asked?
BRADY HARAN: You were asked about your future for it.
What's the situation about that?
Because you obviously have a lot of things on the go.
JAMES GRIME: So I do it in my spare time.
I don't want people thinking that I do this for a living.
So the YouTube stuff--
BRADY HARAN: As opposed to me.
JAMES GRIME: Yeah, exactly.
Exactly right.
So my YouTube stuff is in my free time.
And the more I do public talks and the more traveling I do,
and the more "Numberphile" I do, unfortunately it affects
my singingbanana schedule, which is a shame.
And I don't like that either.
And I want to do as many as I can, as I can.
What was the other question?
There was one other.
BRADY HARAN: How you were doing that.
JAMES GRIME: [INAUDIBLE].
BRADY HARAN: Yeah, how did you come to be involved with
"Numberphile"?
JAMES GRIME: Well, I know, in the first case, I was a fan of
periodic videos.
So I saw what you were doing for chemistry, and I wanted to
do something like that for maths.
I tried to sort of do it on singingbanana, in
my own small way.
And if you go back to an old singingbanana video, there's
even on where I recommend channels.
And I recommend "Periodic Videos." And I actually say,
Brady's doing for chemistry what I want to do for maths.
So that's actually there.
And so--
BRADY HARAN: Now I'm doing for maths what you
want to do for maths.
JAMES GRIME: Right.
BRADY HARAN: With you.
JAMES GRIME: Well, yeah, exactly.
This is brilliant.
And I was a big fan of your "Bibledex" channel as well,
which was about each book of the Bible, because that's
something I don't know about.
Chemistry, physics, I kind of know.
And that's something that I didn't know
anything about at all.
So I was fascinated by those videos,
like an ordinary viewer.
And I sent you a couple of nice messages, I think, saying
I'm loving this channel.
BRADY HARAN: Yeah.
JAMES GRIME: And if you ever think of doing maths,
ask me about it.
And so that opportunity came up, and you did.
BRADY HARAN: I did.
JAMES GRIME: You asked me about it.
BRADY HARAN: I did.
We went to the pub, didn't we?
And I said, I'm gonna do a maths channel.
What do you think?
And you were on board.
Worst thing you ever did.
You can't get rid of me now.
JAMES GRIME: No, or the other way around.
BRADY HARAN: Well, no.
We're very glad to have you in our videos.
A few other questions.
There are loads coming in, so we'll try and
get to some of those.
Someone asked, are we both redheads, or is there strange
lighting in the room?
JAMES GRIME: Look, this is not ginger.
This is brown.
Look at my eyebrow.
This is brown with blonde parts in it, that it just
comes out a little big rusty.
Yeah, it's--
BRADY HARAN: Someone else has asked where
your accent is from.
JAMES GRIME: My accent is Nottingham, because I'm from
Nottingham originally.
BRADY HARAN: [INAUDIBLE], for those who don't know, I'm
based in Nottingham.
That's where I work on "Numberphile".
James actually lives in Cambridge now.
JAMES GRIME: Yes.
BRADY HARAN: But you are in Nottingham today [INAUDIBLE].
JAMES GRIME: I am born and bred Nottingham.
And I left when I was 17.
But I am.
This is a midlands accent.
It's a fairly neutral accent, maybe on the slightly northern
side of things.
BRADY HARAN: And if anyone's really confused, because I
said I live in Nottingham, I am from Australia originally.
I don't have a Nottingham accent.
We had quite a few questions.
People asked a lot about your background.
But in particular, quite a few people have asked about what
you did for your PhD.
You obviously have a PhD.
Can you tell us a little bit about your research, what your
hardcore math was?
JAMES GRIME: Right.
So my PhD, if I start off in broad terms, it was about
something called group theory.
Group theory is part of maths, which is about symmetry.
So it's the maths of symmetry.
So if you imagine a square, like that, and if I rotate the
square a quarter-turn, you get a square again.
So that's like ordinary symmetry.
If you flipped the square, you get a square again.
If I rotate the square four quarter-turns, I get back to
where I started, so things like that.
That's the symmetry of a square.
But mathematically speaking, symmetry covers a lot of sins.
Symmetry means, there's something we care about that
we want to stay the same.
So it might be a shape.
It might be volume or length or angle.
There's something we care about that we
want to stay the same.
That's group theory.
And my PhD was about group theory.
And it was about turning groups, which is an abstract
thing, into matrices, which is a concrete thing.
And it's about making a bridge between those worlds.
There you go.
That's a start.
That's the start of my PhD.
And we could go much deeper than that.
BRADY HARAN: Well, we might come back to it depending on
what everyone asks about.
I'll ask you a couple other things from
yesterday, and loads of--
what were your favorite school subjects?
Were you into mathematics at school?
JAMES GRIME: So at school, I tell you what,
when I did my A-levels--
so that's when you do, 17 to 18 years old, you start to
pick A-levels in the UK.
I picked maths, physics, and chemistry.
Now, maths and physics I picked because I'm lazy.
Those are the subjects that were easiest for me to do.
Actually, I wasn't gonna do maths.
My maths teacher made me do it.
He said, you are doing maths.
I said, I don't want to do maths.
He said, you are doing maths.
So I picked maths, physics, chemistry.
Chemistry was the one I found hardest but fascinating.
I was absolutely fascinated with chemistry.
90% of my time was spent trying to keep up with
chemistry, because it was the one I found hardest to do.
And then 10% of my time was doing maths and physics,
because it came naturally to me.
So the answer is, I'm slightly lazy.
I picked the subject that came most naturally to me.
But then I continued to do it.
And at university, that's when I really started to see the
beauty of mathematics, because real mathematics that I care
about is about proof.
And that's what you get to do at university.
That's when you start to be really creative about
mathematics.
That's why I continue to do it.
It's the proof.
Proof is [INAUDIBLE].
BRADY HARAN: Well, funny you should say that, because a
question that's just come in recently is, what mathematical
proof is most surprising to you, or maybe just
interesting?
Can you talk about a proof that is worth talking about?
We did a video about a proof today, didn't we?
But maybe we can keep that one a secret.
JAMES GRIME: OK, so I'm gonna have to keep up
with the site then.
What mathematical proof?
There are some things that are counter-intuitive.
And so those are fascinating, the ones
that you don't expect.
Now, those are fascinating because those are peculiar.
Maths is intuitive.
And I want people to understand that.
Maths is an intuitive subject.
What you believe to be true, more often than
not, actually is true.
And that's how maths work.
Mathematicians are not just working through the steps.
They are actually making creative
leaps, creative jumps.
This is how it should work.
This is how it should be, so now I have to
prove that it is.
So you're using your intuition to guide you.
So the majority of maths is intuitive in that sense.
So when you get the counter-intuitive ones, that's
why mathematicians like talking about them.
I don't want to give people the wrong idea that that's
what maths is.
But then you get problems like the Monty Hall problem, which
is a game show where you have three doors.
You have to pick the car, and then the game show host
reveals one of the doors.
You've got two doors left.
And if you change your mind, you're twice as likely to win.
And that's very
counter-intuitive, very bizarre.
And then you can prove that that is true.
Mathematicians like to talk about those strange ones.
BRADY HARAN: I do want to do that for "Numberphile", but
it's one of those things that's been
done so many times.
I want to do it in a new way, and I haven't decided how
we're gonna do it yet.
JAMES GRIME: It's famous, and it's famous for a reason,
because it's good.
And you actually learn something.
When you start to see the proof, you actually learn
something from that.
BRADY HARAN: You talked before about A-levels in school.
Someone's asked here what grades you got in A-levels.
Where were your high school maths like?
JAMES GRIME: Well, you know what it's going to be.
You know it's gonna be A's.
Yes, I got A's at A-level.
In my day-- where's my pipe?
In my day, we didn't have A-stars or A-levels, so I had
A's for A-levels.
BRADY HARAN: OK, and a few people have
asked about your IQ.
Have you ever had an IQ test?
JAMES GRIME: I have, yes.
BRADY HARAN: What'd you get?
What's your number?
JAMES GRIME: So IQ, OK, I will do this.
However, IQ is not a good measure of intelligence.
And I'm--
BRADY HARAN: Oh, you bombed.
Yeah, you bombed out.
JAMES GRIME: I'm not a big fan of it.
My IQ, when I was 16, when I had it tested, was 155.
BRADY HARAN: That's really high, isn't it?
JAMES GRIME: Yeah.
It would put me in the top something, yes.
BRADY HARAN: 155.
JAMES GRIME: And I don't care, because I'm still an idiot.
BRADY HARAN: If my IQ was 155, I'd have it tattooed on my
forehead, but anyway.
JAMES GRIME: I never want to mention that again.
BRADY HARAN: OK.
I'll ask you a few random ones, just because I like
questions like this.
JAMES GRIME: Yeah, go on.
BRADY HARAN: Someone asked, do you have a favorite
mathematical symbol?
And is there a mathematical symbol you'd like to change
for some reason?
I don't know what the reason would be, but maybe because
it's hard to wrote, or it's a pain in the backside
[INAUDIBLE].
JAMES GRIME: OK, infinity's a cool symbol.
I mean, I might just leave it at that.
And it has an implication of going forever, like a
[INAUDIBLE].
So there's an intuitive sense of what it means.
It's a well-chosen symbol.
I like that one.
Ones I don't like?
Because, in mathematics, we use Greek letters a lot, lots
of Greek letters that I can't write--
all the Greek viewers now will mock me, but there are some
Greek letters I just don't know how to write them.
BRADY HARAN: On "Sixty Symbols," we have a lot of
Greek letters come up, and that's a real pain, trying to
find them and work with them.
So I feel your pain.
JAMES GRIME: I apologize to Greek viewers.
BRADY HARAN: Wow.
And you've got a 155 IQ.
So if you can't do them, what chance do the rest of us got?
Is there a practical use for Graham's number?
JAMES GRIME: Oh, right.
So Graham's number, this famous massively number, it
came out of a practical problem.
It was a mathematical problem, but it did
come out of a problem.
So I guess it is born of a problem.
And the problem was about taking a graph.
A graph is a network of dots and lines
that you join together.
You take a graph, and how many ways can you color a graph?
And it was born out of a problem like that.
And networks and graphs have very practical uses, in things
like on the internet and how you join things together,
networks together.
So I guess it does have a practical use, very much so.
BRADY HARAN: It's not like some guy just made up this
crazy number and then said, now what can I use it for?
JAMES GRIME: Exactly right, exactly right.
I mean, of course you could do that by just adding one,
adding two.
Yeah.
No, it's famous because it has a real use.
And at that point, it was the biggest number that had ever
been used in a genuine mathematical proof.
BRADY HARAN: At this point, because I'm gonna have a quick
read of some of the questions, and because it is Valentine's
Day, you brought something along with you.
We have made a video about these numbers in this before,
featuring James.
It was one of our earlier videos, so go and have a look.
And I'll put it in the video description later.
But these are really nice.
Maybe you should show these.
Hold them up to the camera, and you have
a chat about them.
JAMES GRIME: OK, so what I've got here, these are my
amicable number.
Can you see that?
Let's see if I can get that to focus.
There we go.
These are my amicable number broken-heart chains.
So that's 220 on that one.
Can we get a focus?
284 on that one.
And so the factors of 220 add up to 284, while the factors
of 284 add up to 220.
So they come as a pair.
And in the past, these would symbolize mutual friendship,
perfect harmony, and love.
And so for Valentine's Day, they are really sweet.
It's a kind of a nerdy thing.
But it's a really sweet thing.
So we had these made, 220 and 284 key rings that join up.
So you can keep one and give the other half to your true
love, I guess.
BRADY HARAN: Can one obtain these?
JAMES GRIME: Shall I, shall I?
Yes, you can obtain these.
BRADY HARAN: I have no commercial interest in this
whatsoever.
But if people would want to know if they can get them.
JAMES GRIME: And I'm shy doing it.
But Matt Parker and myself-- now, Matt Parker is another
"Numberphile" speaker.
Matt Parker and myself, we're friends in real life as well.
So we set up a little company, little business thing, where
we were sending these "Amicable Number" key rings,
and other things as well, a couple of maths things that we
came up with that we thought would be fun and other nerdy
people might like.
And it's called Maths Gear.
If I hold this up, there you go.
BRADY HARAN: You brought that just because that's
what that was in.
You didn't bring it to--
JAMES GRIME: Yeah, that's the packaging.
So Math Gear and mathsgear.com.
And yeah, we sell little bits.
We're not trying to--
BRADY HARAN: [INAUDIBLE].
JAMES GRIME: We're not trying to be rich by this.
BRADY HARAN: If we were trying to sell those for Valentine's
Day, this is probably the worst possible time to do it,
because it's too late.
You've got a year to get in your hearts for next year's
Valentine's Day.
How's that for poorly timed advertising?
Cool.
We got loads of questions coming in.
What do you enjoy doing apart from mathematics?
JAMES GRIME: OK, so my hobbies, These days, of course
I spend so much time traveling and giving talks, it's
difficult to do my hobbies now.
If you follow my Twitter, I often talk about films and
things, because I'm just sitting around in train
stations watching films.
So I'm a big film fan.
I used to do a lot of dancing.
I used to do ballroom dancing, jive dancing, so I can dance a
little bit.
I used to do that.
But it's difficult to do it these days.
And juggling is my big hobby.
I'm a juggler.
So I juggle clubs and balls and knives and fire
and rings and uni--
I ride a unicycle.
And it's one of my things.
BRADY HARAN: Fair enough.
Obviously someone knew that, because one of the questions I
was asked to ask you was, is there a theoretical limit to
the maximum number of balls one can juggle?
So they obviously knew you were a juggler, or that's an
amazing coincidence.
JAMES GRIME: So theoretical limit, there should be really
no theoretical limit if, say, we had a program of a stick
man juggling balls.
And his hands can be as fast as light.
And I think there are programs like that.
And so there'd be no theoretical limit, because
he'd throw them higher.
But there is a physical limit.
So the record for juggling balls, I think it's 13.
It might be 11.
Clubs, then, is a little bit lower.
So that would be 11, or maybe it's nine.
BRADY HARAN: I thought it might be higher than that.
JAMES GRIME: Yeah, clubs, I think, so it's a little bit--
BRADY HARAN: But the balls, I thought, might be higher.
JAMES GRIME: Oh, yeah, you thought the
balls might up higher.
Yeah, I think it might be 13.
I could be wrong about that.
But it's not as high as you think it would be, because of
the physical problem of it.
And then, as a friend of mine said--
I have to credit my friend here, a friend of mine called
Colin Wright.
He's a mathematician and a juggler as well.
And he says that the world record for juggling chainsaws
is three, because, yeah, given chainsaws, you're gonna juggle
three of them.
BRADY HARAN: OK.
While we're quickly doing a few personal things about you,
because people obviously have an interest, I was asked to
ask you your favorite song.
JAMES GRIME: Favorite song is "I Want You Back" by the
Jackson Five.
I'm a little bit camp.
Sometimes I'm a little bit camp.
BRADY HARAN: You said it, you said it.
JAMES GRIME: Sometimes I am.
BRADY HARAN: Do you have a favorite shape?
JAMES GRIME: Favorite shape.
Not really, not really.
For the sake of an answer, let's say the circle.
Because it's the limit, isn't it, of your
triangles and your squares?
BRADY HARAN: Do you have a favorite "Doctor Who" alien?
I'm not asking these questions.
This is you guys.
JAMES GRIME: I can tell you that my students used to call
me The Master.
And The Master is Doctor Who's enemy.
The Master is a time lord in "Doctor Who." And he's Doctor
Who's enemy.
And they used to call me The Master because when my hair is
short and I'm wearing my black suit, as I like to wear a
black suit, I look like-- or they thought I look like--
John Simm from "Doctor Who," who plays The Master.
So when I discovered that they were doing this, I was quite
amused by that.
And I came in the next lecture, and I tested my
microphone by tapping it--
[RAPS ON TABLE]
JAMES GRIME: And the "Doctor Who" fans will
know what that means.
I got someone to squeal.
I got a squeal from my students.
Tick.
BRADY HARAN: And you got a completely blank look from me.
JAMES GRIME: Yeah, you don't know [INAUDIBLE].
BRADY HARAN: I don't know what you're talking about.
Do you have a favorite mathematician?
JAMES GRIME: A favorite mathematician?
OK, all right.
On my office wall, there are three photographs of
mathematicians.
There's a picture of a man called Alfred Young, who was
the father of what I study in particular.
And many people won't have heard of him.
He lived about 100 years ago.
There's a picture of Tom Lehrer.
Tom Lehrer was a mathematician and a satirist in
the 1960s, a comedian.
He used to do satirical songs.
And I love him.
I think he's great.
The fact that he's a mathematician is just a bonus.
He's brilliant.
And I've got a picture of him, because I love him.
And the third picture is a picture of Johnny Ball.
And Johnny Ball was a-- he had a TV show about maths
when I was a kid.
So he was enthusiastic, and he was a maths communicator.
And he loved maths, and he jumped up and down, and he
wanted to show you maths.
And he inspired me to continue to do maths and show an
interest in maths when I would not have had exposure to that
sort of thing before.
And you may be able to see that he's my inspiration and
why I do what I do now.
And you may even be able to see that.
BRADY HARAN: So many people have asked to see you juggle
that we're going to have to do it.
I've only got some cricket balls and baseballs here.
So what do you want?
Two baseballs and a cricket ball?
JAMES GRIME: Yeah, sure.
Have to keep them low as well.
BRADY HARAN: You will.
There you go.
JAMES GRIME: [INAUDIBLE].
Right.
So I'll get my excuses in now.
BRADY HARAN: If you do it, I will do it.
JAMES GRIME: Oh, can you do it?
So that's your simple stuff.
But you know, you can go--
BRADY HARAN: Oh yeah.
JAMES GRIME: And stuff like that.
[INAUDIBLE].
You're up.
Get off to it.
BRADY HARAN: I'm impressed.
JAMES GRIME: [INAUDIBLE].
There you go.
BRADY HARAN: All right, here I go.
JAMES GRIME: Hey.
BRADY HARAN: There we go.
You want to see one on the outside?
JAMES GRIME: Whoa, whoa.
Yeah, I'm nervous when you throw the
cricket ball in my direction.
BRADY HARAN: It's completely under control.
We'll have to get you doing some more of your elaborate
juggling for a video.
We'll find an excuse sometime.
JAMES GRIME: We'll see about that.
BRADY HARAN: Let's get back in our position
after that little interlude.
Favorite number?
JAMES GRIME: Favorite number.
Of course everyone asks your favorite number, and I don't
really have a favorite number.
BRADY HARAN: What if I said, choose a number or I will
throw this cricket ball at you?
JAMES GRIME: OK, in that case, I will choose the number one.
Where would we be without the number one?
BRADY HARAN: Fair enough.
The next question was, do you have a favorite number
between 1 and 100?
So you've also covered that, so well done.
JAMES GRIME: Tick.
BRADY HARAN: I'll cross that off the list.
Do you want to quickly just tell people what
your current job is?
A lot of people will have seen me made a "Numberphile" video
with you in which you were showcasing the Enigma machine.
And that is a big part of your job as well, your real job.
So maybe you want to tell people what your real-life job
is these days.
I'll get you to come in.
JAMES GRIME: Yeah, a bit closer.
BRADY HARAN: Go ahead.
JAMES GRIME: So my real job.
So my day job is, I travel the UK and I travel the world, and
I give public talks about maths.
And I'm trying to inspire, I'm trying to motivate people.
And I might talk to children, and I might talk to adults.
And it might be in schools, and it might be in
universities.
It might be in festivals.
Enigma is the one I like to talk about most.
So we have that machine on loan to us.
And it's one of the most inspiring and fascinating and
brilliant stories that I love to tell.
And that's the majority of my time.
I do that a lot.
BRADY HARAN: You have am Enigma machine that's been
lent to you or to the--
JAMES GRIME: Yeah, the machine I show off
belongs to Simon Singh.
And Simon Singh is an author of popular science books.
And he lent it to Cambridge University, who lent it, in
turn, to me so that I can show it off and tell
people about it.
BRADY HARAN: Do you like games?
Do you play games?
JAMES GRIME: I'm guessing you mean, like,
online computer games.
BRADY HARAN: I don't know.
Let's open it to everything.
First of all, do you play computer games?
JAMES GRIME: Computer games, I play occasionally something.
I'm a casual gamer.
I play the 10 minutes of games, so, like, your "Angry
Birds." And I've got an Atari that you plug into your TV.
And I play "Space Invaders."
BRADY HARAN: A proper old-school Atari?
JAMES GRIME: Well, it's one of those, they
put it inside a joystick.
So you plug it straight to the TV.
BRADY HARAN: Cool.
JAMES GRIME: And it's got "Super Mario" on it and "Space
Invaders" and "Galaga." I like "Galaga." I'm a demon on
"Galaga." You can't beat me at "Galaga."
BRADY HARAN: And do you play any--
what I call them, real-life games?
JAMES GRIME: Real-life games.
Real-life games.
BRADY HARAN: I don't know what you call those.
I don't know.
JAMES GRIME: What?
What are you saying, tag?
BRADY HARAN: Non-electrical games?
Do you play--
you know what I'm asking.
Answer the question.
JAMES GRIME: Oh, like, "Monopoly." There we go.
That's all I can think of board games.
Oh, role-playing games, things like that.
OK, so I'm not really in that world.
So I guess not.
Role-playing, board games, I have friends that do that.
I'm not really into it.
BRADY HARAN: Any sports or anything you like?
JAMES GRIME: Any sports?
Nah.
BRADY HARAN: There's a game you told me you
play all the time.
JAMES GRIME: If you count, yeah.
I play sport if you count bar billiards as a sport.
BRADY HARAN: You're obsessed with bar billiards.
You always talk to me about it.
JAMES GRIME: I am obsessed.
BRADY HARAN: You want to make a video about it.
JAMES GRIME: I do.
I would love to make a video about bar billiards.
Bar billiards is an awesome game.
BRADY HARAN: What is bar billiards, for
those who don't know?
JAMES GRIME: Bar billiards, so billiards, you know, so you've
got cues and a table and billiard balls.
And so snooker is a sort of billiards game, and pool.
But bar billiards is, you got a couple of balls.
You have to get them into the holes.
The holes are in the table.
They're not pockets at the sides.
They're in the table.
You get points.
So you score as many points as you can.
And you have to score as many points as
you can in 30 minutes.
And it's awesome.
It's brilliant.
BRADY HARAN: People have asked if you play chess, and if you
have a preference for chess or draughts.
JAMES GRIME: Oh, I guess chess, really.
But I do play chess.
Not that brilliant at it.
I used to play chess with my dad a lot.
It was a nice thing we used to do.
We used to have a chess board in the living room.
And we had a counter that was white on one side,
black on the other.
So you'd play a move and then walk away.
Then the next, we'd come in and go, oh, I see, oh, OK.
We rigged it up.
I really enjoyed doing that.
BRADY HARAN: People have asked whether or not you read the
comments and the chats and things underneath videos.
You're obviously in lots of video, your own and
"Numberphile".
Do you read comments?
JAMES GRIME: I read all the comments on my own channel,
the comments and the messages I get.
And I'm not always able to answer them all.
Even if I did, I mean, I just don't have time
to answer them all.
I'm sorry.
And then on the "Numberphile" ones, I check, yes.
So yes.
I was considering denying it, because it kind of
makes me less cool.
But no, I check.
I don't check them obsessively.
Yeah, what are you pointing out, Brady?
BRADY HARAN: There is someone commenting, using your face
and the name James Grime on YouTube.
And we should point out, that is not James.
That is just some--
well, I won't use unsuitable words.
But that's someone who is--
JAMES GRIME: It's not me.
BRADY HARAN: --who is being creative.
And that's not James.
And I personally don't think people should be doing that.
But who am I?
I'm just some guy, so there you go.
Someone asked a question a bit earlier that I did like.
And that is, when your life is so much mathematics, do you
find yourself just doing, without even meaning to, like,
counting the number of times you chewed that sandwich, and
looking at a shape or a house and thinking about dimensions
and equations?
JAMES GRIME: No, not really.
I mean, we talked about those-- vampires and
arithmomania and things like that, and counting
the number of steps.
And that's a real condition.
There are people who do that.
I don't think mathematicians, as a rule, have arithmomania.
I certainly do not.
But maybe you're asking, maybe in broader terms, do I look at
the world and see it as equations
and things like that?
And do you know, no, I probably do not.
BRADY HARAN: I mean, I'm not going so much for the personal
questions, because you know, away from "Numberphile",
you're your own man, but I do have to ask, what pajamas do
you wear to bed?
JAMES GRIME: OK.
BRADY HARAN: Just because I didn't expect that question.
Most of the questions I can expect, but--
JAMES GRIME: Oh, right.
OK, well, I guess--
I'm considering lying.
But I'll just tell you the real answer.
Shall I?
BRADY HARAN: Because they're, like, Spider-Man or something.
That would be so cool.
JAMES GRIME: No.
I just wear the t-shirt that I'm wearing during the day.
And then--
BRADY HARAN: I've never seen you in a t-shirt.
You're always wearing a shirt.
JAMES GRIME: [INAUDIBLE].
BRADY HARAN: Oh yeah, OK.
Fair enough.
A lot of people have asked, do you have a preference for base
12, base 16, or decimal?
JAMES GRIME: Base 12, base 16, or decimal?
Do you know what?
Preference, I'm quite convinced
by the base 12 people.
I like their arguments.
They're not grand--
you know, it doesn't change mathematics in a grand way or
in a fundamental way.
But the day-to-day use of it, I do actually agree with them.
I wish we did have base 12.
Time would still be the same, but weights and measures
should go back to being base 12.
And it'd be brilliant.
BRADY HARAN: If you're quite new to
"Numberphile", we did a--
JAMES GRIME: Yeah, we did.
BRADY HARAN: --base 12 video with James, talking about the
pros and cons of using base 12.
And again, well worth a look after this.
And I'll put a link in the video subscription.
JAMES GRIME: Sure.
Because I like them, I'm going to give those guys a plug.
That was the-- was it [INAUDIBLE]
society of America?
And they have a Twitter account as well.
Now you have to watch them on Twitter.
And every day, they give you a little base 12 fact.
And I really enjoy those.
BRADY HARAN: Well, they do one every day, don't they?
JAMES GRIME: Yeah, pretty much.
BRADY HARAN: They should do one every,
like, 12th day or something.
JAMES GRIME: Every 12 hours?
BRADY HARAN: Oh yeah, that's a better idea.
Yeah.
OK, do you have a favorite branch of mathematics?
And maybe you could quickly run through it, because I
think it's really interesting.
And it's not something we've talked about in "Numberphile".
How is mathematics broken into groups at that academic level?
Like, in chemistry, we have organic and inorganic, and
physical and things like that.
How do you break maths up?
And then what do you like?
JAMES GRIME: Yeah.
So maths is broken up in the same way as chemistry is.
So maths is broken up into--
well, we've got pure maths.
Let's start with pure maths.
And that's what I do.
I'm a pure mathematician, pure maths.
And then that's broken up into algebra and analysis.
Now, I do algebra.
And from my point, I think algebra is about looking at
the big picture.
It's about large mathematical objects, whereas analysis is
about the details.
So it looks at the real number, and it looks at those
in details.
And I'm more about algebra than analysis.
There's statistics, which I'm a big fan of statistics,
probability statistics.
And then there's mathematical physics, and things of that
nature, which I don't really do mathematical physics.
BRADY HARAN: OK, I'm cool with that.
There's been a bit asked.
And you probably are a good person to ask about this,
because you spend so much time going to
schools and meeting students.
And we've done a few videos-- on "Sixty Symbols," I think it
was, that I did some videos, about education and how
mathematics has this reputation that sort of
permeates society, of maths is hard.
It's almost a joke, isn't it?
That, oh no, I've got maths, maths is hard?
And it puts people off.
There's a real stigma attached to it.
What do you think about the state of maths education and
the reputation of mathematics at that level of people who
are just kind of at crucial parts of their lives.
JAMES GRIME: Yeah.
So this idea about maths is hard, that's certainly a
cultural problem.
So it's not true in other places and in other countries.
And things like, you know, it's a boys' subjects or it's
a girls' subject, this is a cultural thing.
And there's absolutely no reason for that.
But there is that reputation.
I don't want to speak out of turn.
I'm not a maths teacher.
I'm not a teacher.
I don't want to speak for those.
I am what I am.
I'm an academic who, sometimes I work with children.
And I enjoy doing so.
So I don't want to speak out of turn.
But there are things that can be done, and I know there a
lot of people who care about maths education, who know that
there are things that can be done.
They know what could be done, and they are
trying to do that.
And in a small part, I'm trying to do that, too, by
showing how maths can be inspiration
and motivate people.
I have my part as well.
But there are better people who understand the problems
better than I do.
And I don't want to speak out of turn.
BRADY HARAN: A few quick ones.
Pi or tau?
JAMES GRIME: Do you know what?
"Numberphile" has slightly convinced me, because before
your "Numberphile" pi and tau one, the one with Professor
Moriarty in it--
BRADY HARAN: Yes, Phil Moriarty.
JAMES GRIME: Yeah.
I was gonna say, I was thinking pi.
Pi's fine.
I mean, there is absolutely no reason to change to tau.
It makes sense as it is.
And Professor Moriarty said one thing that convinced me.
It was, tau is a full turn, and then you get a quarter of
a turn, a half-turn, three fourths of a turn.
Tau is a turn that--
yeah, that convinced me-- for the first time, really.
I was pretty ambivalent about it.
But we'll give that to Professor Moriarty.
BRADY HARAN: What a great advertisement for the video.
I hope you'll all go and watch it afterwards.
And I'll put the link below.
And Professor Moriarty would be over the moon with your
endorsement.
How many digits can you recite pi to?
I'm not putting you on the spot.
Someone just--
JAMES GRIME: Oh, to the calculator length, I guess.
3.141592654.
Something like that.
BRADY HARAN: Oh, I don't know.
I don't know, so [INAUDIBLE].
JAMES GRIME: Something along those lines.
BRADY HARAN: I'm sure we'll hear about it if you got any
of those wrong.
Favorite food?
JAMES GRIME: Favorite food?
I like Chinese.
BRADY HARAN: Oh yeah, I like Chinese.
There's a really good Chinese on the corner.
JAMES GRIME: Yeah?
BRADY HARAN: There is.
Oh, but you're going back to Cambridge, aren't you?
But if you want to stay for a Chinese with-- you know, we'll
sort you out.
It's up to you.
Favorite color?
JAMES GRIME: Nothing in particular, nothing.
Yellow.
I like yellow.
BRADY HARAN: Why?
JAMES GRIME: It's a bright, colorful color.
And I like the bright.
I have a short attention span, and I like
bright shiny things.
Yellow, sunshine, yes.
BRADY HARAN: OK.
Can you solve a Rubik's Cube?
JAMES GRIME: Yes.
BRADY HARAN: And how quickly?
JAMES GRIME: Yes, but badly.
BRADY HARAN: You know, I've got one.
JAMES GRIME: Yeah, I can solve one in about four
minutes, I'm afraid.
I'm not clever.
BRADY HARAN: We're not gonna make you do it on the spot.
JAMES GRIME: No, no.
I know the beginner's method.
And it takes me a long time.
But I learned to solve the Rubik's Cube not as a kid.
I learned to solve it because I use it as a prop, as a
visual aid to teach group theory, which
is my area of maths.
And the Rubik's Cube is an application of group theory.
So I'm learned it as a prop.
And I'm not very good at it.
BRADY HARAN: This is an interesting question.
Answer carefully.
Favorite YouTube?
What YouTube channels do you watch?
JAMES GRIME: [INAUDIBLE].
BRADY HARAN: That's interesting
to hear about, yeah.
JAMES GRIME: Do you want me to do the science ones or the
non-science ones?
BRADY HARAN: Go.
The question just says, favorite YouTuber.
So you go ahead.
JAMES GRIME: All right, let's see.
So Brady aside then.
BRADY HARAN: No, no, no.
No, no, no.
JAMES GRIME: [INAUDIBLE]
videos.
BRADY HARAN: You can just say all my channels as one and
forget about it.
JAMES GRIME: Yeah.
And "Bibledex" and things that I loved.
The maths channels--
and I hope they'll like this.
Of course we know Vihart is a brilliant channel.
BRADY HARAN: Yes.
JAMES GRIME: And then there's things like Khan Academy.
A couple of my favorites that are less
well-known is Ty Yann.
He's a maths teacher in Seoul, in Korea.
And he does mathematical prisms and things.
Ty Yann, T-Y Y-A-N-N, Ty Yann.
And then Dr. James Stan--
Tanton, sorry.
I always get his S mixed up.
Dr. James Tanton, I think he lives in Australia now.
And he has some fascinating, brilliant videos.
I love him.
And people will be less aware of him.
And then if you talk about non-science and maths, I have
lots of favorite ones, some of them that are less well-known.
BRADY HARAN: We're about to run [INAUDIBLE]
JAMES GRIME: I'm gonna say hello to my friends.
BRADY HARAN: Hang on.
I've got a power cable.
We're about to run out of power.
JAMES GRIME: I've been talking too much.
BRADY HARAN: No, no, no.
Do you know what?
It was my fault.
When we started, I said oh, I must make sure I
plug the power in.
And then I didn't.
We just got the [INAUDIBLE].
JAMES GRIME: All right, we'll change angle.
BRADY HARAN: This is putting a little bit
more prominence on--
JAMES GRIME: Hello.
BRADY HARAN: --me.
Yeah.
JAMES GRIME: A couple of friends I want to
say hello to at You--
I am a YouTuber, so I do have friends.
Mismag822, the magician, hello.
Ericsurf6, hello.
And other favorite channels I have--
CommunityChannel, Natalie.
Nat, right?
I am absolutely in love with Nat.
OK.
BRADY HARAN: Well, now you brought it up.
I wasn't gonna bring it up.
But you say you're in love with someone.
There have been loads of questions about your
availability or otherwise.
I'm just saying, there's been loads of questions.
You can say what you want.
JAMES GRIME: Are they offers?
Or are they just questions?
BRADY HARAN: I wouldn't say they'd be offers.
I don't know if it's just a kind of a curiosity with other
intent or not.
But I'm just saying, there's been lots of questions.
And I'm not saying anything.
JAMES GRIME: Well, then I'll just--
yeah, here I am.
This is me.
BRADY HARAN: Have you ever been to the Eiffel Tower?
I guess that they're asking that because of the Eiffel
Tower picture behind.
This is actually my office, of course.
So that would have nothing to do--
JAMES GRIME: So yeah, you should ask Brady that.
And I haven't been to the Eiffel Tower.
BRADY HARAN: You've never been to the Eiffel Tower?
JAMES GRIME: No, I haven't been to Paris.
Look at this case.
BRADY HARAN: It's very close.
JAMES GRIME: Look at his face.
BRADY HARAN: It's very close to here.
I mean, I grew up in Australia and I went
to the Eiffel Tower.
Well, that's a good question to ask you next then.
Favorite country to visit?
Because obviously you have been to other countries.
JAMES GRIME: Yeah.
BRADY HARAN: Even if you haven't been to France, which
is like a stone's throw away.
JAMES GRIME: Favorite country.
Two of my favorite countries, I like Austria, and I like
Scandinavia, Sweden, Denmark.
I lived in Denmark for about eight months.
BRADY HARAN: I didn't know that.
JAMES GRIME: Yeah.
[INAUDIBLE].
That's for the Danish viewers.
BRADY HARAN: Same from me.
A lot of people, actually--
I know these what's-your-favorite things
are a little bit boring.
But we get asked them a lot, so I should ask them, I guess.
A lot of people have asked about your favorite TV show.
JAMES GRIME: Ooh, favorite TV show.
BRADY HARAN: And they've also asked what you think about
some TV shows that involve numbers, like things like
"Numb3rs."
JAMES GRIME: Yeah, like "Numb3rs." I've actually got
"Numb3rs" on DVD.
I've got the box set, because I travel a lot.
So I get box sets and I watch a lot of
programs as I'm traveling.
And I've got "Numb3rs." I've actually seen the
first couple of series.
I'm told the first couple of series is the best, and it
goes downhill.
So I've got that to look forward to.
And I liked what they did.
So they were showing mathematicians not as these
people who can't communicate, who are anti-social, and all
those horrible cliches for mathematicians.
They were showing a mathematician who was
brilliant and perfectly sociable, and how his maths
could help--
in the shows-- help them solve crimes.
And the maths was good maths.
It's all genuine maths.
And it had mathematicians help them come up with ideas and
check it's good.
BRADY HARAN: So it's got a bit of a thumbs up then?
JAMES GRIME: Yeah, I like "Numb3rs." Well, what I've
seen so far.
BRADY HARAN: If I can interrupt slightly.
JAMES GRIME: Yeah.
BRADY HARAN: Someone has asked, while I'm with you,
possibly having a Chinese and not with Mrs. "Numberphile" on
Valentine's Day--
and this is a fair point.
And you have mentioned some of your favorite YouTubers, so
this is a chance for me to get a message out.
If you would like to subscribe to a channel and make Mrs.
"Numberphile" very happy, subscribe to Kylie Caravan.
Kylie, K-Y-L-I-E, Caravan, C-A-R-A--
you know how to spell "caravan."
Go and subscribe to her, and then there'll be this big--
it's a brand-new channel.
And I'm helping the video, so it's got that touch
of class about it.
But if there's a sudden spike in subscribers on there
because of all you guys, that will be Valentine's present
taken care of.
Kylie Caravan.
Getting back to the man.
By the way, James has been ridiculously sick for the last
week and a half.
That's the reason he wasn't able to take part in our--
JAMES GRIME: This is a good point to cough.
BRADY HARAN: --biggest prime--
OK.
JAMES GRIME: [COUGHS]
BRADY HARAN: That's why he didn't take part in our
biggest prime number video.
JAMES GRIME: Yeah.
I was really annoyed.
BRADY HARAN: And it's amazing that he's even come here today
to help out [INAUDIBLE].
You've been really struggling during filming, and this is--
obviously the web cam has just brought you to life.
So kudos to you for doing this.
JAMES GRIME: Yeah, that's Dr. Theater, isn't it?
But I was ill.
And I was really disappointed not to be in the prime number
video last week, because I really did want
to be in that one.
BRADY HARAN: Oh, I like that.
Do you prefer even or odd numbers?
JAMES GRIME: That's a good question.
Even the fact that I said that was a good
question is a bit nerdy.
Do you know what?
Off instinct, even numbers.
What does that say about me?
BRADY HARAN: You like even numbers.
JAMES GRIME: I like order.
That's what it says about me, isn't it?
BRADY HARAN: Yeah, I probably would've thought you'd say
even, because your favorite color was yellow.
You're more the kind of the happy, nice-- you're not an
edgy odd-number kind of guy.
JAMES GRIME: Off-kilter sort of person, no.
BRADY HARAN: Yeah.
Someone has asked, do you have your own channel?
For those who didn't see the very start, and for those who
don't already watch James' other channel, it's called
singingbanana.
And he's been doing that for about five years now.
And it's an ex--
watch my videos first, but if you want to see James' own
channel and him doing a few of his own things, you can go on
to singingbanana.
JAMES GRIME: It's home-made.
BRADY HARAN: As long as you've also subscribed to Kylie
Caravan, of course, because it's Valentine's Day.
JAMES GRIME: Yeah, reduce your expectations, because it's a
home-made channel.
BRADY HARAN: Yours is more, yeah-- it's more, yeah
[INAUDIBLE].
JAMES GRIME: And it's like, old-school
YouTube, I like to think.
I'm just a YouTuber.
I am one of you.
BRADY HARAN: There's another question that's come up a
couple of times.
And it's a question for you, but it's also maybe the birth
of a future video I've been thinking about anyway, and
I've been waning to talk to people about anyway.
Some people have asked what math or mathematics jokes or
one-liners and that you like and don't like.
And I know you love corny jokes.
But I was thinking we should do a mathematics joke video.
So if you've got any maths jokes that you like or don't
like, put them in the description.
JAMES GRIME: Send them to Brady.
BRADY HARAN: Put them in the description.
JAMES GRIME: He loves them.
BRADY HARAN: No, but I think they'd make a good video.
But I know you like a corny joke.
And you must know a few.
Are there any?
JAMES GRIME: Take epsilon less than zero.
There you go, that's one for the math [INAUDIBLE].
BRADY HARAN: What did you say?
JAMES GRIME: Take epsilon less than zero.
That is killing.
In all the maths departments across the world, that is
slaying them.
BRADY HARAN: Really, really?
JAMES GRIME: They are loving that.
That is going down a storm.
BRADY HARAN: Let's have a look at the current.
James, are you really singingbanana?
Is that--
JAMES GRIME: Yeah.
BRADY HARAN: [INAUDIBLE].
JAMES GRIME: Well, yeah.
I am the singingbanana channel.
I am singingbanana.
You see a comment by singingbanana, that's me.
I'm not a singing banana myself.
I'm just his agent.
BRADY HARAN: Why do mathematicians always confuse
Halloween and Christmas?
Is that a maths joke?
JAMES GRIME: Yes, because Oct31 equals Dec25.
BRADY HARAN: That's good.
That's the kind of stuff I like.
JAMES GRIME: That's the level you're working at.
BRADY HARAN: That's actually good, thought.
I also don't mind the, you know, because seven ate nine
type jokes.
I like those corny ones, too.
But that I quite liked.
Do you watch Dara O'Brien's "School of Hard Sums?" Which
I've never seen.
JAMES GRIME: Yeah, I've seen a couple of those shows.
I've not seen them all.
I've seen a couple of those shows.
Dara O Briain is a comedian in the UK.
He's Irish and South.
And he actually did a maths degree in [INAUDIBLE]
mathematical physics.
So he's from a mathematical background.
He's got a TV show in the UK called "School of Hard Sums."
It's mixing maths with comedy.
It's also with Marcus du Sautoy, who's a mathematician.
He's great as well.
I've actually helped them out, a couple of weeks ago.
They wanted to do something about Enigma
machines and codes.
So I went down and helped them out.
I'm not on tele.
They didn't want me on tele.
They didn't want this on the TV.
BRADY HARAN: No.
I phoned them up and actually sabotaged you, because I'm
trying to get you on an exclusivity deal for
"Numberphile".
JAMES GRIME: I'll shake my fist at you.
But I did help them out.
The Enigma machine, when that is aired-- and I don't know
when that's gonna be.
The Enigma machine is the one I look after, which belongs to
Simon Singh.
And the stuff that Marcus says is the kind of stuff that I
fed him as well.
So hello to Marcus and Dara.
BRADY HARAN: I don't think they watch "Numberphile",
personally.
JAMES GRIME: You might be surprised.
BRADY HARAN: Really?
I know their producers do, to steal ideas.
But I don't think their--
JAMES GRIME: You may be surprised.
Yeah, their producers do.
Marcus said, get James in because he
has an Enigma machine.
And the producer contacted me.
They said, hello.
Marcus told us to say hello.
And she knew who I was.
I said, I do this thing called "Numberphile".
And she watches.
She didn't quite connect my name to me, but yeah, she
watches too.
So hi.
BRADY HARAN: A question.
Just because this has been asked so many times, I
probably should ask it.
A lot of people wanna know if you play "Minecraft."
JAMES GRIME: I think I've heard of it.
So obviously I don't play "Minecraft." Sorry, I don't.
BRADY HARAN: It's all right.
We're all friends here.
Someone says-- this is a good question.
Are you creative?
JAMES GRIME: Right, I see.
Do you know what?
That's kind of leading me down a road where there's a speech
down this road, about maths being creative.
BRADY HARAN: Go on then.
JAMES GRIME: No.
Maybe I'll just [INAUDIBLE].
Maybe I'll make it simple and just say--
BRADY HARAN: Yeah, go on.
JAMES GRIME: From my point of view, maths
is a creative subject.
I mean, creating new mathematics, mathematics
that's never been done before, original, new mathematics, is
a creative process.
You don't do that by just being a
robot, by being a machine.
I truly believe that.
And that's something I want to show people as well.
BRADY HARAN: Tell me about how a
mathematician is creative then.
JAMES GRIME: Right.
So when I discover something, yeah, I
discover something new.
So let's say I want to prove something.
First of all, I have to come up with a conjecture.
And that's a leap of intuition.
BRADY HARAN: Is that like a hypothesis?
JAMES GRIME: Yes, a hypothesis, exactly.
So that's a leap of intuition.
That's somewhere I want to get to.
And that's a creative, intuitive thing.
But then to prove it, I'm assuming that other people
have not yet been able to solve it.
So you're solving problems that other
people could not solve.
And that's amazing.
That's brilliant.
And to solve it, you might take something from over here,
you take an idea from over there, and then you put these
things together.
You put them together in a new way, in a way that's never
been done before.
And you create something.
You create something new, something that's never been
done before.
BRADY HARAN: Cool.
JAMES GRIME: Yeah.
And then that's true forever.
And that's one of the amazing things about it as well.
BRADY HARAN: Someone wants to know how long this stream is
going to be.
They could watch it all day.
JAMES GRIME: That's up to you, Brady.
BRADY HARAN: Well, I don't know.
You do have a train to catch.
JAMES GRIME: I do have a train.
BRADY HARAN: Unless you're gonna stay
around for that Chinese.
But we won't be able to go for too much longer.
JAMES GRIME: No, not too much longer, maybe
five minutes longer.
BRADY HARAN: Yeah.
Let's have a look.
Do you prefer hot or cold weather?
JAMES GRIME: Cold weather.
There you go.
BRADY HARAN: I prefer cold weather, too.
JAMES GRIME: There's a surprise; I had an
answer for that one.
Cold weather.
BRADY HARAN: Do you like sushi?
JAMES GRIME: I don't think I've ever tried it.
I'm sorry.
BRADY HARAN: You've never had sushi?
JAMES GRIME: Don't think I have.
BRADY HARAN: You've never had sushi, and you've never been
to the Eiffel Tower.
JAMES GRIME: I've never had sushi at the
Eiffel Tower either.
BRADY HARAN: That's what you should, though.
That would be awesome.
Is there going to be a Grime conjecture?
JAMES GRIME: Grime conjecture.
There's a Grime corollary.
BRADY HARAN: Is that another Grime, or is that yours?
JAMES GRIME: No, that's me.
BRADY HARAN: What's the Grime corr--
what is it?
JAMES GRIME: It's only a little bit of fun.
It's only a little thing.
But there was a episode of "Futurama" where they were
swapping brains.
Have you seen it?
BRADY HARAN: I haven't, no.
JAMES GRIME: All right, so they had this brain-swapping
machine, so they could swap brains, swap minds.
But they couldn't swap them back.
Once they're swapped, couldn't be swapped back.
BRADY HARAN: One-time deal.
JAMES GRIME: So they were all swapping brains.
And they were all mixed up.
And they go, oh, no, how are we going to get
back to where we were?
Because you can't just reverse the steps.
And so--
and this is brilliant.
The guy who wrote the episode was a maths
graduate himself, Keeler.
He was called Keeler.
And he actually wrote a theorem so that you could do
this in general.
And it's in the episode.
Someone shot on a blackboard in the cartoon how to
do it in real life.
And I made a little-- and it's true, and it works.
And I made a little conjecture about it.
Well, in that example that was in "Futurama," you could have
actually done it in fewer moves.
BRADY HARAN: It sounds like a "Numberphile" video.
JAMES GRIME: It's a little fun thing.
BRADY HARAN: That sounds like it could be a
"Numberphile" video.
Tell you what, we better things wrap things.
JAMES GRIME: All right.
BRADY HARAN: But we'll read through all the comments and
things that you've written later on.
And I'll certainly go in and have a chat
when I get the chance.
It's not always easy to reply to comments in these different
comment sections.
But I think we'll find a way to do it.
And James may or may not as well.
His username is singingbanana.
And don't forget this, this other idiot, who's using
James' picture and calling himself James Grime and
writing here.
And if you see him, do whatever you can.
What do you call it?
Flame him, or thumb him down.
JAMES GRIME: Thumbs down.
BRADY HARAN: Make sure everyone knows that that guy
is a bit of an impostor.
Yeah, I don't know.
JAMES GRIME: Hang on, don't set the angry mob on him.
BRADY HARAN: No, no, no.
Yeah, sorry.
Don't be angry.
But don't let other people think it's James, because--
JAMES GRIME: [INAUDIBLE].
BRADY HARAN: Because it's not.
James is singingbanana, as you know.
And don't forget to subscribe to Kylie Caravan and make my
Valentine's Day much easier.
Thank you.
JAMES GRIME: Glad to help.
BRADY HARAN: Thank you, James, for coming along.
And as I said, we filmed a bunch of "Numberphile" videos
earlier as well.
So you're gonna be seeing plenty of James.
Even though I'm not going to be seeing much of James over
the next month or two--
JAMES GRIME: [INAUDIBLE].
BRADY HARAN: --you will still be seeing him on
"Numberphile".
I'm not seeing him because he's just
really busy with work.
But we'll catch him again in the middle of the year.
But you will keep seeing him on "Numberphile".
And it was good fun.
I actually really enj-- did you enjoy it?
JAMES GRIME: Yeah, it was good fun.
You know, I'm my own favorite subject, so I could have done
that till the cows come home.
But I think now's a good time to wrap it up.
BRADY HARAN: Cool.
And we'll hope to more of these kind of things, both
with James and with others, and with multiple people,
because it's good fun.
It's really good fun talking to you guys in real time.
So cheers, everyone.
JAMES GRIME: Thanks for watching.
BRADY HARAN: See you later.