Jim Al-Khalili talks to leading scientists about their lives and work. Mathematician Marcus du Sautoy and Jim explore the symmetrical possibilities in hyperspace.
Marcus du Sautoy wasn't particularly good at maths at school; but a teacher spotted his aptitude for abstract thought and he started reading, and enjoying, journals filled with mathematical proofs. His thesis on the mathematics of symmetry launched him as a world class mathematician. And before he dies he wants to know: can you predict the properties of the next symmetrical object that could possibly exist in a hundred thousand dimensions or more? Marcus talks to Jim Al-Khalili about his ion for the performing arts, as well as mathematics; and why, for him, mathematics is as much a creative art as a science.
Producer: Anna Buckley.
