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Math! Science! History!

Math! Science! History!

By: Gabrielle Birchak
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 Math! Science! History! is a podcast about the history of people, theories, and discoveries that have moved our scientific progress forward and spurred us on to unimaginable discoveries. Join Gabrielle Birchak for a little math, a little science, and a little history. All in a little bit of time.© 2025 Mathematics Science World
Episodes
  • FLASHCARDS! Google Maps, Waze, and the Science of Map Distortion

    FLASHCARDS! Google Maps, Waze, and the Science of Map Distortion
    Aug 29 2025

    We use maps all day, including Google Maps, Waze, Apple Maps. We use them without even noticing that every one of them distorts reality. In this episode, Gabrielle explains why flattening a round Earth always bends the truth, how classic projections (like Mercator) live inside today’s apps, and why those distortions shape our mental picture of the world. Practical, visual, and myth-busting, this is cartography you can feel on your daily commute.

    To hear the podcast on Marie Tharp, visit: Math Science History with Gabrielle Birchak

    Three Coordinates to Remember

    1. Why distortion is unavoidable when projecting a 3D globe onto a flat screen (thanks, Gauss).
    2. How Web Mercator powers Google Maps/Waze, great for street-level navigation, misleading at global scales.
    3. How projection choices shape perception, from Greenland vs. Africa to who appears “big” or “central” on a map.

    Resources & Visuals

    • Gall–Peters (equal-area) projection:
      Peters Projection Map: Everything Your Ever Wanted To Know
    • Compare Map Projections:
      https://map-projections.net/compare.php
    • Buckminster Fuller’s Dymaxion map (unfolded globe):
      https://www.bfi.org/about-fuller/dymaxion-map
    • “The True Size Of…” (drag countries to compare real sizes):
      https://thetruesize.com

    🔗 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!
    Bluesky:     https://bsky.app/profile/mathsciencehistory.bsky.social
    Instagram:     https://www.instagram.com/math.science.history
    Facebook:     https://www.facebook.com/mathsciencehistory
    LinkedIn:     https://www.linkedin.com/company/math-science-history/
    Threads:     https://www.threads.com/@math.science.history
    YouTube:     Math! Science! History! - YouTube
    Pinterest:     https://www.pinterest.com/mathsciencehistory

    🎧 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

    🛍 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
    Until next time, carpe diem!
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    7 mins
  • Marie Tharp and the Secret Mountains Beneath the Sea

    Marie Tharp and the Secret Mountains Beneath the Sea
    Aug 26 2025
    Geologist-cartographer Marie Tharp turned echo-sounding numbers into the first global seafloor maps—revealing the Mid-Atlantic Ridge’s rift valley and helping vindicate Alfred Wegener’s once-dismissed theory of continental drift. This episode traces Tharp’s path from wartime classrooms to world-changing maps, the resistance she faced, and the recognition that finally followed. Three Key Points: How Tharp and Bruce Heezen transformed sonar data into the physiographic maps that visualized seafloor spreading. Why the Mid-Atlantic Ridge’s rift valley was a “smoking gun” for plate tectonics. How gender bias delayed credit for one of geology’s most consequential discoveries. Resources & Further Reading (links) World / Ocean Floors and Land Relief (Heezen–Tharp map) at the David Rumsey Collection. David Rumsey Map Collection Browse all Tharp items in the David Rumsey Historical Map Collection. David Rumsey Map Collection Library of Congress Heezen–Tharp Collection (finding aid & digitized items). Library of Congress Handle Resolver About Marie Tharp (Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory mini-site). marietharp.ldeo.columbia.edu Marie Tharp biography (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution). Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution SECNAV press release renaming USNS Marie Tharp (T-AGS-66), Mar 8, 2023. Navy+1 Google Doodle celebrating Marie Tharp (interactive). Google Doodleslamont.columbia.edu 🔗 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! Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/mathsciencehistory.bsky.social Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/math.science.history Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mathsciencehistory LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/math-science-history/ Threads: https://www.threads.com/@math.science.history YouTube: Math! Science! History! - YouTube Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/mathsciencehistory 🎧 Enjoying the Podcast? ☕ Support the Show: Coffee!! PayPal Leave a review! It helps more people discover the show! Share this episode with friends & fellow history buffs! Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform 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. From Page to Practice by Brian Teoh. Nature Documentary by Alisia Beats. Slow Tide by u_98673jp94. Sound effects from Pixabay: Thank you Dragon Studio and Solarmusic Until next time, carpe diem!
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    22 mins
  • FLASHCARDS! You Could Be a Scientist! Everyday Microscope Moments

    FLASHCARDS! You Could Be a Scientist! Everyday Microscope Moments
    Aug 22 2025

    In this Flashcards Friday, Gabrielle shows how you already think like a scientist. Using three simple ideas from microscopy: magnification, illumination, and focus, she connects everyday phone habits (zooming, finding good light, tapping to focus) to centuries of scientific practice.

    Three Flashcards

    Magnification: How “zooming in” reveals hidden detail, and why that mindset matters in science and daily life.

    Illumination: How changing the light transforms what you can see, from selfies to specimens.

    Focus: Why patience and fine-tuning bring true clarity (on your phone and under a lens).

    Links to Resources

    · Microscope Basics (Britannica): https://www.britannica.com/technology/microscope

    · Illumination & Contrast (Nikon MicroscopyU): https://www.microscopyu.com/techniques

    · Optics Primer: Lenses & Light (HyperPhysics): http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/geoopt/lenscon.html

    🔗 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!
    Bluesky:     https://bsky.app/profile/mathsciencehistory.bsky.social
    Instagram:     https://www.instagram.com/math.science.history
    Facebook:     https://www.facebook.com/mathsciencehistory
    LinkedIn:     https://www.linkedin.com/company/math-science-history/
    Threads:     https://www.threads.com/@math.science.history
    YouTube:     Math! Science! History! - YouTube
    Pinterest:     https://www.pinterest.com/mathsciencehistory

    🎧 Enjoying the Podcast?

    ☕ Support the Show: Coffee!! PayPal

    🌟 Leave a review! It helps more people discover the show!
    📢 Share this episode with friends & fellow history buffs!
    🔔 Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform

    🛍 Check 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!
    Show More Show Less
    5 mins
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