Breaking Math Podcast Podcast By Gabriel Hesch and Autumn Phaneuf cover art

Breaking Math Podcast

Breaking Math Podcast

By: Gabriel Hesch and Autumn Phaneuf
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Hosted by Gabriel Hesch and Autumn Phaneuf, who have advanced degrees in electrical engineering and industrial engineering/operations research respectively, come together to discuss mathematics as a pure field all in its own as well as how it describes the language of science, engineering, and even creativity.

Breaking Math brings you the absolute best in interdisciplinary science discussions - bringing together experts in varying fields including artificial intelligence, neuroscience, evolutionary biology, physics, chemistry and materials-science, and more - to discuss where humanity is headed.

website: breakingmath.io

linktree: linktree.com/breakingmathmedia

email: breakingmathpodcast@gmail.com

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Episodes
  • Fire Science: What are Photoacoustic Measurements?

    Fire Science: What are Photoacoustic Measurements?
    Jun 3 2025

    In this episode of Breaking Math, hosts Autumn and Gabriel explore the innovative intersections of fire science and technology with experts Amy Mensch and Ryan Falkenstein-Smith who work at NIST. They discuss the groundbreaking photoacoustic technique for measuring soot deposition, its applications in fire safety and forensic investigations, and the broader implications for fire research. The conversation highlights the importance of integrating advanced technologies into firefighting and the potential for future developments in the field.

    You can learn more about Time at time.gov and NIST at nist.gov.

    All opinions are of the individual scientist and do not reflect the opinions of NIST or the federal Government.

    Subscribe to Breaking Math wherever you get your podcasts.

    Become a patron of Breaking Math for as little as a buck a month

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    Follow Autumn on Twitter and Instagram

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    email: breakingmathpodcast@gmail.com
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    50 mins
  • What is Time?

    What is Time?
    Feb 26 2025

    In this episode of Breaking Math, Autumn and Andrew Novick delve into the intricate world of timekeeping, exploring the significance of precise time measurement in modern technology. They discuss the evolution from traditional atomic clocks to cutting-edge optical clocks, the critical role of time in various industries, and the implications of time on fundamental physics, including Einstein's theories. The conversation also touches on the quirky concept of leap seconds and the future advancements in timekeeping technology, emphasizing the relative nature of time and its perception.

    You can learn more about Time at time.gov and NIST at nist.gov.

    All opinions are of the individual scientist and do not reflect the opinions of NIST or the federal Government.

    Subscribe to Breaking Math wherever you get your podcasts.

    Become a patron of Breaking Math for as little as a buck a month

    Follow Breaking Math on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Website, YouTube, TikTok

    Follow Autumn on Twitter and Instagram

    Follow Gabe on Twitter.

    Become a guest here

    email: breakingmathpodcast@gmail.com
    Show more Show less
    1 hr and 12 mins
  • What is Measurement?

    What is Measurement?
    Feb 18 2025

    Summary

    This episode of Breaking Math explores the fundamental concept of measurement, its importance in daily life, and the necessity for standardized units. The discussion highlights the role of the International System of Units (SI) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in maintaining measurement accuracy. It also touches on historical measurement failures and the evolution of measurement definitions, emphasizing the future of measurement in technology and science.

    Subscribe to Breaking Math wherever you get your podcasts.

    Become a patron of Breaking Math for as little as a buck a month

    Follow Breaking Math on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Website, YouTube, TikTok

    Follow Autumn on Twitter and Instagram

    Follow Gabe on Twitter.

    Become a guest here

    email: breakingmathpodcast@gmail.com
    Show more Show less
    7 mins
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I started with the first one mostly on elitism and Pythagoras. Any commentary on Pythagoras that doesn't start with "we don't know much about him with certainty" because he never wrote anything, and it all comes from biased or mythologized secondhand accounts is suspect. There is simply too much wrong with this episode. Why is it so difficult to find a good math Podcast in which people stay in their lane of what they know, or at least have guests that do? Sounds like a bunch of pompous hipsters. Sad..
They need to stop trying too hard to sloppily fit everything to their narrative about elitism. There was obviously a lot of politics involved when opponents labeled Pope Sylvester II a sorcerer. But the way these hipsters present it, with zero social or cultural nuance regarding the times, it was all because he dared to use foreign Arabic numerals. They are straining to have everything fit their per-determined narrative about elitism. They give a long quote from a Galilean book presented as some kind of lame "proof” of Aristotelian ignorance, but they do not bother to mention that it is a fictional dialogue. The language and translations are probably deceiving but again, they are determined to keep themselves and the listener stuck within their modern lens.

Still wondering where the math is and how this makes math more accessible.

They then provide a questionable definition about cults stating they all have the characteristic of starving and restricting adherents into submission, even ridiculously positing out of thin air that that makes sense evolutionary. Sure, why not throw in some armchair evolutionary biology too. But actually, competition makes just as much sense as cooperation evolutionary, probably even more so. The audacity to think they can apply a questionable modern definition to something so long ago that we have little evidence of is absurd. Everything was called a "cult" in those ancient Greek days, partly because they didn't have a word for religion. These people are ignorantly stuck in their modern hipster lens of what "cult" means combined with the story of the guy who was supposedly murdered for revealing the irrationals (probably a baloney account for all that we know) and then essentially concluding that the Pythagoreans must be an elitist cult no different than David Koresh or something. I am not sure how these hipsters got degrees.

Epsiode 1 - Too much non-math and pomposity.

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