Investiture at Windsor Castle

November 05, 2021 by Brady Haran

In January I wrote about the Medal of the Order of Australia - you can read about it here.

The citation says it is “for services to broadcast and online media”.

Because I live in the UK, it was not possible to receive the medal in my homeland.

Instead - about nine months later - I received it from Prince Charles at Windsor Castle.

Below is a video about the medal on the Objectivity channel - it includes footage from the investiture.

You can also hear more detail during this episode of the Unmade Podcast.

Stuff from Iceland

July 14, 2021 by Brady Haran

I’ve created a stand-alone blog series from a trip to Iceland in July 2021.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE (including volcanoes, glaciers and whale penises)

Medal of the Order of Australia

January 26, 2021 by Brady Haran

This Australia Day I was fortunate to receive the Medal of the Order of Australia.

The citation says it is “for services to broadcast and online media”.

It was a big surprise when the notification arrived last month and I feel very honoured.

(The initial email went to my junk folder and I thought it may be a prank!)

Despite living in the UK for many years now, I’m immensely proud to be Australian.

If you’d like to hear more, I talk about the award in the latest episode of The Unmade Podcast (sometimes seriously, sometimes jokingly).

I do not have the physical medal yet.

The investiture ceremonies take place in a few months and I’m not sure I’ll be able to travel back to Australia in the current environment.

I’d just like to mention (if not by name) the hundreds of people who help make my videos and podcasts. I’m under no illusion that my work is a solo effort.

And also thanks to the people who watch the videos and listen to the podcasts - I wouldn’t be able to make them if there was not such a loyal and engaged audience.

The Sofa Shop

December 29, 2020 by Brady Haran

The Sofa Shop was an Adelaide store with a jingle that was played A LOT on TV and radio when I was growing up.

Many years later, on The Unmade Podcast, light-hearted memories of the jingle became something of a running joke.

When The Sofa Shop finally closed in recent times, this was a major development on our podcast.

In the subsequent months, podcast listeners starting making their own renditions of the jingle and we featured them on the show.

We have a list of many of them here, so do have a listen.

During a trip to Adelaide earlier this year, I tracked down the jingle’s composer (Quentin Eyres) and singer (Carmine Scalsi) for a couple of interviews.

But then we went further, and got Quentin and Carmine back in the studio for this grand finale.

Is "The Lecture" Dead?

July 28, 2020 by Brady Haran

The forced closure of most university facilities has, in some minds, ignited debate about the future of “traditional lectures”.

I spoke with professors Phil Moriarty and Mike Merrifield - both from the University of Nottingham School of Physics.

They had different views:

You can also watch the full length interviews with each of them. Here’s Mike Merrifield:

And here’s the long version with Phil:

Both have also written articles in the past - you can read Mike here and Phil here.

Comet NEOWISE

July 25, 2020 by Brady Haran

Here a few photos I took of Comet NEOWISE, which recently visited our part of the neighbourhood. Also a couple of space station pictures.

The Day I Met Ron Graham

July 07, 2020 by Brady Haran

RON GRAHAM 1935-2020

I know the exact date I met Ron Graham - it was the 16th of May, 2014.

That’s because it’s immortalised on my office wall, alongside his signature.

Since childhood I’ve known his name because of Graham’s Number.

The unimaginably large number, made famous by the Guinness Book of Records, was a staple in any book of “amazing factoids” I’d borrow from the library.

I’d use it to boggle my family and friends.

I’d say things like: “You know, if all the matter in the Universe was turned into ink, you still couldn’t write out Graham’s Number.”

Into adulthood, I’d use the same tales to amaze my friends’ children.

Saucer-eyed, they’d ask why it was called “Graham’s Number”.

“Because the man who invented it was called Graham,” I’d answer.

I knew nothing of the man himself - where or when he might have lived.

In fact even when I started the YouTube Channel Numberphile, I still knew little of Ron Graham.

But I was sure I wanted to make a video about his number.

In fact, I feel confident saying Graham’s Number played a major role in me starting the Numberphile exploration of math and numbers.

Early in the project I enlisted the fantastic Matt Parker and Tony Padilla to tell the story of Graham’s Number, and they did a great job.

Tony even calculated my new favourite factoid - holding all the digits of Graham’s Number in your brain would cause your head to collapse into a black hole.

Later in the Numberphile project, I started visiting and collaborating with MSRI - a prestigious math institute in Berkeley, California.

One day I was in the office of its director, the well-connected David Eisenbud.

I was telling him of my fascination with Graham’s Number, to which David replied Ron Graham was a good friend.

Within minutes he was on the phone to Ron Graham - and soon I was on a plane to San Diego to meet the man himself.

It was a surreal experience. I’m not easily star-struck, but this was how I felt.

I was nervous knocking on his door.

Ron Graham was not what I expected. Of course he was an older man, but his hair retained a golden blondness and he wore it longer than one might expect.

He had an almost “surfie” youthfulness befitting his home overlooking the ocean. He wore a step counter and was fitness conscious.

We spoke about mundane things - I seem to recall him discussing daily trips to Starbucks.

He also spoke with great fondness for his wife Fan - I recall how besotted he seemed.

But talk soon turned to mathematics.

(At this point out I must point out Ron Graham was a mathematical Top Gun with a long list of accomplishments, and I’m almost embarrassed by my obsession with this one number… Ron himself seemed baffled by my interest!)

Ron was famously close friends with the legendary Paul Erdős - acting as a business and life manger for the terribly disorganised Erdős.

He spoke of Erdős often throughout the day, showing me boxes of Erdős files stored in the garage.

Then it was time to film some Numberphile videos.

Of course we did Graham’s Number (a few videos).

We also did a few other bits, including one on Erdős.

Ron was a pleasure to film - I think he enjoyed it.

After that he showed me more photos, we talked about juggling, and he discussed some work his daughter was doing (of which he was clearly proud).

I thought my time was up - but then Ron asked if he could buy me a meal.

Of course!!!

We walked out the driveway where he and his wife had their cars parked - the license plates were NUMBER and THEOREM. (Fan is a mathematician too.)

Ron drove us to local sushi place and was just sat around talking math - just ME and Ron Graham.

Like most mathematicians, he quickly grabbed some napkins and scrawled on them to visualise his explanations.

I grabbed the napkins before we left - and still have them!!!!

Ron dropped me back at the hotel and said his goodbyes.

As he drove off into the sunset, with his NUMBER-plated Lexus, the hotel doorman asked me how my day was.

“See the guy driving off there, with NUMBER on his license plate,” I said.

“Yes.”

“He’s a mathematician… and he invented the BIGGEST NUMBER EVER! If the whole universe was turned into ink, you still couldn’t write it down.”

“Cool!”

UPDATE: A podcast tribute to Ron Graham