Logarithms: Mobile Phones, Modelling & Statistics? - Oliver Johnson

Logarithms were perhaps once thought of as just an old-fashioned way to do sums on slide rules. But they underpin much of modern life, from modelling the COVID pandemic to Claude Shannon’s mathematical theory of information (which makes mobile phones a reality) and making sense of Cristiano Ronaldo’s crazy Instagram follower numbers.
This lecture will explore the basics and history of logarithms, and then show how they are a natural way to represent many models and datasets.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction
03:10 How COVID pandemic graphs got it wrong
09:44 What is a logarithm?
14:08 Who invented logarithms?
16:48 How logarithms can help us better predict a pandemic's spread
26:46 Claude Shannon's work on logarithms and information theory
36:26 How logarithms explain social networks
47:20 Conclusion
48:35 Q&A Session
This lecture was recorded by Oliver Johnson on 22nd May 2024 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London
Oliver is Professor of Information Theory in the School of Mathematics at the University of Bristol, where he is Director of the Institute for Statistical Science.
His research involves randomness and uncertainty, and includes collaborations with engineers, biologists and computer scientists.
The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website:
www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/l...
Gresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: gresham.ac.uk/support/
Website: gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: / greshamcollege
Facebook: / greshamcollege
Instagram: / greshamcollege

[@aidanhschofield]

for the last question on the etymology of the word "logarithm": the word was coined by Napier from the Greek words "logos" and "arithmos".

[@kurtfisher1379]

Thanks for a great lecture! Is not log growth the result of additive growth around the exterior surface of an organism or similar system?

[@EamonJeffers]

Brilliant!

[@BlockchainBard.]

Can you make a video explaining why logarithms are so useful for understanding how things go viral? for all the real estate lovers, what do you think of projects like Asset Avenue?

[@jesuslovespee]

This talk should be meant for kids in middle school. It's sad that these basic ideas are revolutionary for most adults. I used to believe the conspiracy theory about how schools are there to prepare children for factory jobs was ridiculous. Now that I am a parent of a very bright child taking all advanced classes, while bringing home lessons that appear to be quite remedial, I no longer feel that way.

[@stevelenores5637]

If it's the same question, why doesn't it have the same answer?🤷‍♂