Numbers as Gods
In this episode, Hannah goes back to the time of the ancient Greeks to find out what was the fascination with music and maths. The patterns our ancestors found in music are all around us, from the way a sunflower stores its seeds to the number of petals in a flower. Even the shapes of some of the smallest structures in nature, such as viruses seem to follow the rules of maths. All strong evidence for maths being discovered.
There are those who claim maths is all in our heads and something we invented. To find out Hannah has her brain scanned and it turns out there is a place in all our brains where maths lives. Experiments on children also reveal we all come hard wired to do maths. More evidence perhaps that maths is discovered.
But then along comes the invention of zero to help make counting more convenient and the invention of imaginary numbers and the balance is tilted strongly in the direction of maths being invented and all in our heads. The question of whether maths in invented or discovered needs more investigating.