Q&A - Birth of a Theorem - with Cédric Villani

Is there still room for an individual genius in modern mathematics? Is the blackboard still the best tool for explaining maths? How should education be changed to promote greater creativity?
Cédric Villani answers questions following his talk. Watch the main talk here: • Video
Where does a mathematician’s inspiration come from? Fields Medal winner Cédric Villani takes us on a fantastical adventure through the beautiful, mysterious world of mathematics.
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What goes on inside the mind of a mathematician? Where does inspiration come from? Fields Medal winner Cédric Villani combines passion and imagination to take us on a fantastical adventure through the beautiful, mysterious world of mathematics.
Cédric Villani is a French Mathematician who was awarded the prestigious Fields Medal in 2010 - an award often viewed as the highest honour a mathematician can receive.
He is also a member of the Science and Technology Advisory Council and stands out for his sense of fashion.
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This event was filmed at the Ri on 9 March 2015.
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[@FatihErdemKzlkaya]

I've never seen someone who answers the questions as good as that.

[@MasterofPlay7]

I swear this guy is the reincarnation of descartes xD

[@smadm2437]

Yes. Makes me proud to live in this century. A highly intelligent academic & policy maker. Humbling & inspiring.

[@cg8397]

​@@MasterofPlay7Academic perhaps, but not as policy maker. It's why he lost the election for mayor of Paris, and then he lost his seat as Deputy when it came up for re-election.

[@TheNBKiller]

This guy really could talk about any intellectual subject lol. He truly is remarkable in the way he is not only a mathematical genius, but, has retained knowledge from many other subjects along the way.

[@irtiza6094]

true

[@AymanB]

Haha love how he puts his shoes back on at the end.

[@kwanarchive]

Never presume the mathematician with a spider has stopped answering a question...

[@vibodhj349]

Have met him in person. He is really a definite genius.

[@MattBaker789]

Finally, a mathematician with flair!

[@noeldc]

Professor Villani is amazing.

[@Shub99]

Both his lectures under the RI format are excellent .. he is in many ways a very knowledgeable person with deep understanding beyond his own speciality ..

[@harishgunasekaran]

We have discovered another beautiful mind!

[@verioffkin]

C'est admirable! Grand merci a Cédric Villani! Vive la mathématiques! Thank you, Cédric, you're great, very interesting lecture indeed. Such brilliant people you invite, The Royal Institution, please go on, and Thank You.

[@stianaslaksen5799]

I just watched both Mr. Villani's RI + QA lectures for the second time. And it was just as enjoyable as the fist time.

[@OzzMazz]

Most enjoyable lecture/QA. I guess it's because he doesn't ram down the truth but rather takes you on a walk in the park and by the time you finish the walk you are wiser.

[@robertschlesinger1342]

Excellent Q & A session with Cedric Villani. Very insightful, interesting and informative.

[@penizflaccidman3497]

haha the last comment was a great ending to an amazing lecture!

[@hamzaelouakili2438]

Couldn't agree more, he hit the sweet spot with that final comment!!! :D

[@kiloohm]

Thank you so much for this talk! Merci!

[@JaapVersteegh]

Complete genius.

[@nikhilverma6457]

Even I hate approximationssssssssssssssssssssssssss. He speaks and explains so well. His idea on policy making is very clear and balanced.

[@rhythmPhil]

Great questions and answers

[@theproofessayist8441]

Master and Slave Dialectic? Dear God Villani knows basic Hegel, what a guy!

[@LuisJavierOcampoAraoz]

Spider - Victorian sympbol meaning wisdom. Hard work recognized. Prudent.

[@vibodhj349]

So, you cracked his secret, didn't you?

[@ragnkja]

Suitable, given his style of clothing.

[@brokenblackbird]

Interesting and insightful. Not sure if fullBoltzmann equation will be solved in the next few decades.

[@WorldView22]

Re 8:45, Prof. Demetrios Christodoulou has published two 1000-page monographs, "The shock development problem" (2019) and "The formation of shocks in 3-dimensional fluids" (2007).

[@LKOO7]

This guy is a true genius

[@Sytch]

A fantastic lecture! His answers were all very thoughtful, but I feel that he didn't answer the very last one! The question was about the inevitability of mathematical theorems, or in other words, his opinion on whether math is created or discovered. I would have loved to hear his thoughts on it!

[@SkyGodKing]

Yeh, that was easily the best question posed and I would really have like to know his thoughts on the matter.

[@photoallergic]

7:13 I like that young man. He has the aura of a prepubescent Alan Turing.

[@cg8397]

No, he can't tell the difference between a theorem and a conjecture

[@pitthepig]

At 20:37 you can see that he is not wearing shoes, and then at the 24:00 he puts them on. New pair maybe?

[@Tonicwine999]

...and on that bombshell

[@oldcowbb]

5:33 DrPhysicsA?

[@sachinsaraogi2737]

can someone pls tell me what are the 7 things about research that cedric has told...

[@paulmartin3355]

Look up the whole presentation he has done before answering the question, the 7 "principles" are stated at the end.

[@Super.AmmarI0]

Still searching KZbin for math help? Are the videos from 2006 ..... *really* helping?

[@jamieshelley6079]

I must admit that a whiteboard is all I wanted for my 20th :p

[@ragnkja]

I prefer a pencil and paper myself.

[@mauri7959]

First question is "why the spider?" as expected

[@cg8397]

The question is dumb. He answered it years ago in an interview with the French press - he started wearing a spider in 1996 following a traumatic experience with a spider, it's his way of overcoming his fear of them.

[@pianystrom8137]

Hera are some theories about the spider: 1. Cedric likes to look like a 1860s poet rock star, and that is the way to go. 2. In a web he will be the one controlling it. 3. A cannibalistic mate is a fantasy. Haha, all is fair, if you want new input;-) 4. By fucking with the spider's legs he provokes you to think differently. 5. Spiders have math in them, and also art.

[@cg8397]

The answer is "None of the above". He stated in an interview with the French press many years ago that he started wearing a spider lapel pin in 1996 to overcome the trauma of an unpleasant incident with a spider.

[@MasterofPlay7]

I swear this guy is the reincarnation of descartes xD

[@alexboehm7171]

07:25 that went deep...

[@alphaomega1089]

On the subject of super computers tackling computation problems: only the solution will be looked for while everything else will be ignored; and, thus that hidden beauty will be overlooked.

[@sirelegant2002]

+Sam Stone That's definitely true. Computers won't be able to make mathematical discoveries or anything of the sort. To make discoveries, you have to think outside of the box, and a computer is limited to the person that programmed it.

[@afrofaust1913]

But with another topic that Villani is familiar with, machine learning, this may not always be the case.

[@kwanarchive]

That has no meaning. AlphaGo defeated a world champion at Go, yet none of the AlphaGo programmers are even close to professional levels of Go. And even when AlphaGo lost, the AlphaGo programmers couldn't really tell you the exact reason.

[@Guizambaldi]

I loved the joke. I'm gonna hurt some philosophers with it.

[@4thtroika]

The next Doctor Who?

[@chrisharrison763]

4thtroika He looks like the Child Catcher.

[@4thtroika]

He's nowhere near as creepy as the Child Catcher.

[@pierrefurnon412]

+4thtroika Yeh, might be a good one

[@saxongreen78]

Docteur Qui?

[@standowner6979]

Is Villani considered a mathematical physicist?

[@davidwilkie9551]

It's a paradox of perceptions that the Actuality of Mathematical Abstractions is the natural occurring environment of probability in potential possibility oscillation positioning of Time Timing in Eternity-now Hologram. Ie more "real" than material matters that are "manifestations" of physical-mathematical assemblies. If the "mathematically-active, actuality-universe" is temporal superposition, then structure is the spectrum of information expanded from a vanishing point, now, in steps of primes composed of e-Pi Quantum-interference, in which these primes oscillate between the resonance harmonics, in terms of subprime cofactors, so turbulence and entropy are possible psudo-randomness, in probability patterns recognized by Navier-Stokes and Boltzman. The rest is history/commentary?

[@guersomfalcon7544]

7:15 That's impossible. If a theorem hasn't been solved then it is not a theorem. He should have said 'conjecture'.

[@francoisvincent5857]

pitié.... Parlez en Français...

[@cg8397]

He was speaking at the Royal Institution in London

[@Magicraft13]

Bg c'était une conference en angleterre