Episode Overview

In this special re-release, we revisit the life and mind of Blaise Pascal, a mathematician, physicist, inventor, philosopher, and theologian who left a lasting impact on multiple disciplines. From his early genius in geometry to his pioneering work in probability theory, Pascal was a thinker who never stopped exploring the boundaries between logic and faith. In this episode, Gabrielle Birchak explores how Pascal’s scientific brilliance intersected with his spiritual journey, shedding light on the man who helped shape modern science, mathematics, and religious philosophy.

Whether you're hearing this episode for the first time or giving it a second listen, Pascal's story continues to resonate through the centuries.

3 Things You Will Learn

How Pascal’s early work in conic sections and projective geometry led to “Pascal’s Theorem.”

Why his collaboration with Fermat on probability theory is considered the foundation of modern decision science.

How Pascal reconciled science and religion through his writings, including Pensées and Pascal’s Wager.

Resources & References

Read the blog: Pascal’s Higher Power

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy – Blaise Pascal

Khan Academy – Pascal’s Triangle and Applications

🔗 Explore more on our website: mathsciencehistory.com
📚 To buy my book Hypatia: The Sum of Her Life on Amazon, visit https://a.co/d/g3OuP9h

🌍 Let’s Connect!

Website: mathsciencehistory.com
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/mathsciencehistory.bsky.social
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/math.science.history

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🎵 Music: All music is public domain and has no Copyright and no rights reserved.
Selections from The Little Prince by Lloyd Rodgers

Until next time, carpe diem!

In this Flashcard Fridays episode of Math! Science! History! Gabrielle Birchak takes listeners on a journey aboard the HMS Beagle with a young, seasick Charles Darwin. This wasn’t just a travel story, it was a five-year working holiday that would ultimately change the course of science. Through field observations, curiosity, and a bit of chaos, Darwin unknowingly gathered the seeds of his future theory of evolution.

From the Galápagos Islands to fossil beds in South America, Gabrielle uncovers how a break from academia became one of the most pivotal moments in scientific history. Perfect for summer listening, this episode is a reminder that the best ideas sometimes come when we step away from the desk.

THREE KEY TAKEAWAYS

Why Darwin’s voyage aboard the HMS Beagle was never meant to be a scientific breakthrough—but became one anyway.

How observation, curiosity, and a break from routine led to one of the most powerful theories in science.

What Darwin’s journey teaches us about creativity, fieldwork, and the value of stepping outside your comfort zone.

• Darwin Online – The Complete Works of Charles Darwin

• Smithsonian Magazine: Darwin’s Life on the Beagle

• Galápagos Conservancy – Science and Conservation

Explore more on our website: mathsciencehistory.com
To buy my book Hypatia: The Sum of Her Life on Amazon, visit https://a.co/d/g3OuP9h

Let’s Connect!

Website: mathsciencehistory.com
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/mathsciencehistory.bsky.social
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/math.science.history

If you love Math, Science, History, here’s how you can help:
🌟 Leave a review – It helps more people discover the show!
📢 Share this episode with friends & fellow history buffs!
🔔 Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform

☕ Support the Show: Coffee!! PayPal

🛍 Checking out our merch: https://www.mathsciencehistory.com/the-store

🎵 Music: All music is public domain and has no Copyright and no rights reserved.
Selections from The Little Prince by Lloyd Rodgers

Until next time, carpe diem!

Episode Overview:
Did people in antiquity ever go on vacation? The short answer is yes—and the long answer is a fascinating journey through Roman villas, Greek festivals, Byzantine retreats, Tang dynasty poetry, and sacred pilgrimages. In this Flashcard Friday episode, Gabrielle Birchak uncovers how the privileged, the pious, and the poetic found ways to take breaks, explore new places, and seek leisure across 1,400 years of ancient history. From Pliny the Younger’s coastal villa to early travel writing in Baghdad, we’ll explore how the idea of “getting away” is as old as civilization itself.

Three Things Listeners Will Learn:

1. How ancient Romans and Greeks viewed leisure and travel.

2. How pilgrimage functioned as early tourism across Christian and Islamic worlds.

3. What writings from antiquity reveal about humanity’s timeless desire to escape daily routines.

Explore more on our website: mathsciencehistory.com
To buy my book Hypatia: The Sum of Her Life on Amazon, visit https://a.co/d/g3OuP9h

Let’s Connect!

www.Instagram.com/math.science.history

https://bsky.app/profile/mathsciencehistory.bsky.social

https://www.linkedin.com/company/math-science-history/

https://www.threads.com/@math.science.history

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If you love Math, Science, History, here’s how you can help:
Leave a review – It helps more people discover the show!
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Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform

☕ Support the Show! We are sponsored by Coffee!! PayPal

Checking out our merch: https://www.mathsciencehistory.com/the-store

Music: All music is public domain and has no Copyright and no rights reserved.
On Matters of Consequence from The Little Prince by Lloyd Rodgers

Until next time, carpe diem!

In this special Pride Month episode, Gabrielle explores the fascinating world of queerness in nature. From same-sex penguin pairs in New York to gender-changing clownfish in coral reefs, nature has always been more diverse, adaptable, and surprising than human categories suggest. Drawing on over 600 years of scientific observation, this episode takes listeners on a global journey through the history of animal research, challenges long-held myths, and reflects on what science teaches us about identity and diversity today.

3 Things Listeners Will Learn:

How scientists from Aristotle to today have observed same-sex and gender-diverse behaviors in animals.

Why queerness in nature offers evolutionary advantages, from social bonding to population resilience.

How modern research is reshaping our understanding of sexual and gender diversity across species.

Resources & References

Evolution's Rainbow by Joan Roughgarden

Biological Exuberance by Bruce Bagemihl

Sexual Selections: What We Can and Can’t Learn About Sex from Animals by Marlene Zuk

Scientific American: “Bisexual Species: Unorthodox Sex in the Animal Kingdom”

National Wildlife Federation: "Same-Sex Behavior Among Animals Isn’t New. Science Is Finally Catching Up"

🔗 Explore more on our website: mathsciencehistory.com
📚 To buy my book Hypatia: The Sum of Her Life on Amazon, visit https://a.co/d/g3OuP9h

🌍 Let’s Connect!

Website: mathsciencehistory.com
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/mathsciencehistory.bsky.social
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/math.science.history

🎧 Enjoying the Podcast?

If you love Math, Science, History, here’s how you can help:
🌟 Leave a review – It helps more people discover the show!
📢 Share this episode with friends & fellow history buffs!
🔔 Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform

☕ Support the Show: Coffee!! PayPal

🛍 Checking out our merch: https://www.mathsciencehistory.com/the-store

🎵 Music: All music is public domain and has no Copyright and no rights reserved.
Selections from:
The Little Prince by Lloyd Rodgers
Now You Are Here by Sergey Cheremisiniv
Eternal Love by Kris Keypovsky
A Journey Beyond by Christian Bodhi

Until next time, carpe diem!

Episode Overview:

In this Flashcard Friday episode of Math! Science! History!TM Gabrielle breaks down the powerful numbers behind the misinformation and legislative attacks targeting LGBTQ+ and especially transgender communities in the United States. With over 550 anti-LGBTQ+ bills introduced across 49 states in 2023 alone, it's time to ask: What does the data actually say?

From the percentage of Americans who identify as LGBTQ+ to the hard truth about who actually commits acts of harm, this episode unpacks the math that shatters the myths. Because when fear leads, facts must speak louder.

3 Things You'll Learn in This Episode:

1. What percentage of the U.S. population identifies as LGBTQ+ and how small the transgender community actually is.

2. Who is statistically responsible for most sexual violence—and how trans people are often the victims, not perpetrators.

3. Which states introduced the most anti-LGBTQ+ bills in 2023, and what types of legislation are being proposed.

Resources

Gallup: LGBTQ+ Identification Rises to 7.6% in U.S.

UCLA Williams Institute: Transgender Population Estimates

The Trevor Project: 2023 National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health

ACLU: Legislative Attacks on LGBTQ Rights

Trans Murder Monitoring Report (TGEU)

Explore more on our website: mathsciencehistory.com
To buy my book Hypatia: The Sum of Her Life on Amazon, visit https://a.co/d/g3OuP9h

Let’s Connect!

www.Instagram.com/math.science.history

https://bsky.app/profile/mathsciencehistory.bsky.social

https://www.linkedin.com/company/math-science-history/

https://www.threads.com/@math.science.history

Enjoying the Podcast?

If you love Math, Science, History, here’s how you can help:
Leave a review – It helps more people discover the show!
Share this episode with friends & fellow history buffs!
Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform

☕ Support the Show! We are sponsored by Coffee!! https://shorturl.at/bHIsc

Checking out our merch: https://www.mathsciencehistory.com/the-store

Music: All music is public domain and has no Copyright and no rights reserved.
On Matters of Consequence from The Little Prince by Lloyd Rodgers

Until next time, carpe diem!

Episode Overview:
Long before Europe adopted the concept of zero, the ancient Maya had already created one of the most sophisticated mathematical systems in the world. In this episode of Math Science History, host Gabrielle Birkjak uncovers the secrets of Mayan mathematics, from the elegance of their base-20 number system, to their revolutionary use of zero, to the celestial precision encoded in the Dresden Codex.

We explore how the Maya embedded math into everything from pyramids to calendars, and how European scholars like Ernst Förstemann helped rediscover their brilliance centuries later. This isn’t just a story about numbers, it’s a story about worldview, time, astronomy, and one of the most advanced mathematical traditions of the ancient world.

Three Things You’ll Learn in This Episode:
How the ancient Maya independently invented and used zero in a positional number system.

Why their base-20 (vigesimal) system was uniquely suited for astronomy and calendar cycles.

How the Dresden Codex survived colonialism and war to become a key to understanding Mayan math and astronomy.

Resources and Further Reading:

SLUB Dresden Digital Archive: View the Dresden Codex:
https://digital.slub-dresden.de/werkansicht/dlf/29691/1

Förstemann, Ernst. Commentary on the Maya Manuscript in the Royal Public Library of Dresden (1901): https://archive.org/details/commentarymaya00fruoft

Coe, Michael D., and Stephen Houston. The Maya, 9th ed. Thames & Hudson, 2015.

Ifrah, Georges. The Universal History of Numbers. Wiley, 2000.

British Museum, Maya Mathematics Learning Resource:
https://www.britishmuseum.org/learn/schools/ages-7-11/maths/maya-mathematics

Explore more on our website: mathsciencehistory.com
To buy my book Hypatia: The Sum of Her Life on Amazon, visit https://a.co/d/g3OuP9h

Let’s Connect!

Website: mathsciencehistory.com
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/mathsciencehistory.bsky.social
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/math.science.history

Enjoying the Podcast?

If you love Math, Science, History, here’s how you can help:
Leave a review – It helps more people discover the show!
Share this episode with friends & fellow history buffs!
Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform

☕ Support the Show: Coffee!! https://shorturl.at/bHIsc

Check out our merch: https://www.mathsciencehistory.com/the-store

🎵 Music: All music is public domain and has no Copyright and no rights reserved.
Selections from The Little Prince by Lloyd Rodgers

🎵 Audio mixed by David Aviles

Until next time, carpe diem!

Ever find yourself squinting at a metric label, trying to figure out how much a liter is in cups—or how heavy your suitcase is in pounds? In this episode of Math! Science! History!, host Gabrielle Birchak shares fast, intuitive tricks to help you convert metric units, without numbers, calculators, or charts.

Through rhythm, storytelling, and everyday comparisons, you’ll learn how to feel conversions in your head, whether you’re driving, walking, or cooking. From chocolate bars and milk jugs to cat weights and yoga mats, we’re turning complex conversions into simple, memorable cues. This episode is perfect for anyone who wants to sharpen their mental math, and sound like a genius without pulling out their phone.

3 Things You'll Learn in This Episode:

- How to mentally visualize metric conversions using sensory and familiar objects—no math required.
- Real-world reference points for converting volume, weight, distance, and temperature.
- Simple memory tricks to help internalize metric vs. imperial conversions while on the go.

Explore more on our website: mathsciencehistory.com
To buy my book Hypatia: The Sum of Her Life on Amazon, visit https://a.co/d/g3OuP9h

Let’s Connect!

www.Instagram.com/math.science.history

https://bsky.app/profile/mathsciencehistory.bsky.social

https://www.linkedin.com/company/math-science-history/

https://www.threads.com/@math.science.history

Enjoying the Podcast?

If you love Math! Science! History! here’s how you can help:
Leave a review – It helps more people discover the show!
Share this episode with friends & fellow history buffs!
Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform

☕ Support the Show! We are sponsored by Coffee!! https://shorturl.at/bHIsc

Checking out our merch: https://www.mathsciencehistory.com/the-store

Music: All music is public domain and has no Copyright and no rights reserved.
On Matters of Consequence from The Little Prince by Lloyd Rodgers

Until next time, carpe diem!