Welcome to ELI5’s first “Ask Me Anything!” We’re inviting expert educators to respond to your questions here on ELI5. Today the topic will be mathematics, brought to you by University of Oxford maths professor Tom Crawford (u/tomrocksmaths). Dr. Crawford has asked us to share [his video about exponential growth, and why it’s so important to take every step to slow the spread of COVID-19](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUVERo2xpH4), and [another video about the SIR model for epidemics](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKMHhm2Zbkw).
This thread is your opportunity to ask questions about mathematics and the teaching of mathematics. Please remember that we will still be enforcing the rules, especially Rule 1. In this case, Rule 3 is amended: top level comments are reserved for questions. We ask that you guys try to stay on topic for Dr. Crawford – keep in mind that although Dr. Crawford may be discussing how diseases spread, this is **not** a topic about the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
And a big thanks to Dr. Crawford for helping us. Check out his YouTube channel, [Tom Rocks Maths](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRfo-DAifrP3lzcxUHtGm_A)!
In: Mathematics
Hi Dr. Crawford,
Due to COVID-19 all of my classes have been moved online, including calc II. Unfortunately, I don’t do very well in math /science classes without lecture-style instruction. All my professor is doing is putting his notes online, and my brain needs more than that. Are there any resources you would recommend?
I have a question about the SIR model you presented in your latest video. In Relation to S_0 is it generally assumed to be the entire population say of a given country minus those already infected / immune? Or does social distancing measures in effect decrease S_0 or does it only decrease the transition rate? Or some combination? Thank you I’m trying to understand the dynamics of the system. (Great Video btw)
Hi Tom! I’m an undergraduate in Physics/Mathematics, and came across your videos with Numberphile on Navier-Stokes following an experiment I performed. The equations fascinated me, especially after I found out they were a Millennium Problem. What similar fields/problems would you recommend studying to someone like me, who is heavily interested in Navier-Stokes?
And another question – my dream is to do a Masters in Oxford, what advice could you give towards a goal like that? What are the special achievements that get people accepted from overseas?
I have a question about Fermat’s Last Theorem. Let me phrase it in terms of the cubic. Say we have a cube and two (imaginary) smaller cubes in the upper left and lower right corners. We expand these two cubes at any rate until they touch, then keep expanding them (they pass through each other) until the volume of the cube of their intersection equals the volume of the interior of the large cube NOT occupied by either of the smaller two cubes. Then obviously the sum of the volumes of the two smaller cubes equals the volume of the large cube. So essentially FLT states that these cubes cannot be measured in any unit such that the lengths will be commensurate. My question is, have many of the failed attempts at “simple” proofs attacked the problem from the angle of incommensurate measure, ie, is this an idiot question, not an insight?
How is Euclid’s 5th postulate not self-evident?
What’s a short proof that 1+1=2?
Assuming decimal, for simplicity.
Is mathematics a human invention, or did we discover it?
i’d upvote -1/12 times if I could
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