Sarah Hart: Once Upon a Prime

We often think of mathematics and literature as polar opposites. But what if, instead, they were fundamentally linked? In this insightful, laugh-out-loud funny book, Once Upon a Prime, Professor Sarah Hart shows us the myriad connections between maths and literature, and how understanding those connections can enhance our enjoyment of both.

Did you know, for instance, that Moby Dick is full of sophisticated geometry? That James Joyce’s stream-of-consciousness novels are deliberately checkered with mathematical references, George Eliot was obsessed with statistics, Jurassic Park is undergirded by fractal patterns and that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie wrote mathematician characters?

From sonnets to fairytales to experimental French literature, Once Upon a Prime takes us on an unforgettable journey through the books we thought we knew, revealing new layers of beauty and wonder. Sarah talks to Deborah Cohen, former head producer of science programming at BBC Radio 4 about how maths and literature are complementary parts of the same quest, to understand human life and our place in the universe.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE EVENT TIME IS 2:30PM NOT 3PM AS STATED IN THE PRINTED PROGRAMME