REPOST! Eponymy and the Sexagesimal Spiral
Math Science History with Gabrielle Birchak
A viral multiplication spiral once attributed to Nikola Tesla opens the door to a much older mathematical story, one rooted in ancient Sumerian and Babylonian base-60 mathematics. In this episode, we explore how sexagesimal counting shaped everything from clocks and geometry to modern science, and how ideas are often misnamed after the most famous figure rather than the original innovator. Along the way, we unpack eponymy, the Matthew Effect, and why credit in science and math is rarely distributed fairly. Learn: 🌀 Why Base-60 Still Runs Our World How the Sumerian sexagesimal system...
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REPOST: The Wake of HMS Challenger
Math Science History with Gabrielle Birchak
In this repost episode of Math! Science! History!, Gabrielle Birchak speaks with Professor Gillen D’Arcy Wood, author of . Together, they uncover how a nineteenth-century Royal Navy warship transformed into a floating laboratory and gave humanity its first global snapshot of the oceans. From discovering thousands of new species to inspiring NASA’s Challenger shuttle, the expedition shaped modern oceanography and continues to inform today’s conservation science. Wood’s biocentric storytelling reminds us that to save our planet, we must first fall in love with it again, to be, as he...
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REPOST! The 2220 Holiday Puzzle!
Math Science History with Gabrielle Birchak
Set in the year 2220, this holiday puzzle episode blends science fiction, real scientific legacies, and mathematical reasoning into an immersive problem-solving adventure. The United Nations Time-Travel Division recruits four brilliant scientists, each descended from historically significant scientific families, and sends them back to 2019 with a radical mission: erase the year 2020 from the timeline. What follows is a multi-step logic and distance puzzle involving self-driving hover cars, state capitals, precise velocity calculations, and a final anagram that reveals what humanity might have...
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REPOST! Eccentric Scientists Holiday Party On!
Math Science History with Gabrielle Birchak
This episode marks the very first Math! Science! History! holiday puzzle, a tradition built around logic, problem-solving, and a little historical mischief. Rather than a standard narrative episode, this one invites listeners to actively participate, following clues, working through puzzles, and engaging with science and history in a hands-on way. Designed as a holiday “party for the brain,” the episode blends reasoning, curiosity, and playful challenge. You can listen straight through or pause along the way to work out the puzzles yourself. There’s no rush, no trick answers, and no...
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FLASHCARDS! The Universal Riddle of Love
Math Science History with Gabrielle Birchak
As the year draws to a close, people across cultures have long turned to riddles, puzzles, and quiet forms of reflection. From lantern riddles in China to communal riddles in Africa and contemplative winter traditions in Europe, these practices were never just games. They were tools for slowing down, thinking together, and preparing for change. In this season-ending Flashcard episode, we explore why riddles emerge during moments of transition, how puzzles shape empathy and shared intelligence, and why one enduring answer continues to matter across centuries and cultures. Discover! Why the...
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The History of Jigsaw Puzzles
Math Science History with Gabrielle Birchak
Jigsaw puzzles may seem like quiet, domestic pastimes, but their history tells a much bigger story. In this episode of Math! Science! History!, Gabrielle Birchak traces the surprising evolution of the jigsaw puzzle, from its origins as an Enlightenment-era teaching tool to its role as a psychological stabilizer during the Great Depression, and finally to its modern use in cognitive science and brain health. Along the way, we explore how puzzles reflect changes in technology, culture, economics, and how humans think and learn. This episode uncovers how something as simple as fitting pieces...
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FLASHCARDS! Puzzle Brain
Math Science History with Gabrielle Birchak
If you enjoyed today’s Flashcard Friday deep dive, make sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share the episode with a fellow puzzle lover. And don’t forget, this last Tuesday was the big Holiday Time-Travel Puzzle Episode, so keep grab your notebook and check it out for prizes and a gift card! You can listen to it here: Episode Overview Solving puzzles feels good, but why? In this Flashcard Friday episode, Gabrielle explores the neuroscience behind puzzles, how your brain lights up during problem-solving, and how you can train yourself to love puzzles even more. From dopamine...
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It's the MATH! SCIENCE! HISTORY! Holiday Puzzle 2025!
Math Science History with Gabrielle Birchak
It's finally here. The annual math science history holiday puzzle. It's a long one but it is a fun one. When you solve it be sure to send all of your work, handwritten, and your answers too hello at math sciencehistory.com by midnight on December 16th. Be in the top three to get it in first and correct and you will have a chance to win some prizes. All of those in the top three can choose to be interviewed on the podcast to tell us all about their love for math, science and history! First place wins a $25 Amazon gift card and a choice of a Math! Science! History! baseball cap or our latest...
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FLASHCARDS! Understanding Light Bulbs: How to Choose the Right One
Math Science History with Gabrielle Birchak
In this Flashcards Friday episode, we take the science of light bulbs out of the hardware aisle and into everyday life. Most people assume a bulb is just a bulb, but the truth is that the type you choose affects your energy bill, eye comfort, the way your rooms feel, and even the safety of your fixtures. From LEDs to incandescent filaments, from color temperature to socket fit, this episode breaks down the science behind the glow. You’ll walk away with practical knowledge you can use immediately, all through the lens of curiosity and real-world physics. If you enjoy episodes that help you...
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Museum After Dark and The Man Who Lit up the Room
Math Science History with Gabrielle Birchak
Step into a silent museum after closing hours, where moonlight washes over long corridors and the hum of unseen forces seems to guide your every step. In this immersive narrative puzzle episode, four historical artifacts awaken in the darkness to share their stories. Each object reveals a piece of a much larger scientific legacy, one that begins with ancient reverence for a thunderous waterfall and continues through centuries of experimentation, rivalry, and extraordinary imagination. By following the clues, listeners uncover the lineage of ideas that shaped the power system we depend on...
info_outlineIf you enjoyed today’s Flashcard Friday deep dive, make sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share the episode with a fellow puzzle lover. And don’t forget, this last Tuesday was the big Holiday Time-Travel Puzzle Episode, so keep grab your notebook and check it out for prizes and a gift card! You can listen to it here: https://mathsciencehistory.libsyn.com/its-the-math-science-history-holiday-puzzle-2025
Episode Overview
Solving puzzles feels good, but why? In this Flashcard Friday episode, Gabrielle explores the neuroscience behind puzzles, how your brain lights up during problem-solving, and how you can train yourself to love puzzles even more. From dopamine pathways to the power of short, consistent practice, this episode uncovers the brain’s secret recipe for curiosity, insight, and reward.
Three Things You’ll Learn: “Mind Games, Literally”
- What Parts of Your Brain Activate When You Solve Puzzles - Learn how the prefrontal cortex, parietal lobes, hippocampus, default mode network, and reward circuitry work together every time you crack a clue.
- Why Puzzle Solving Triggers a Dopamine Boost - Discover how dopamine fuels motivation, anticipation, and the satisfaction of every “Aha!” moment.
- How to Train Your Brain to Love Puzzles - Explore evidence-based strategies to build puzzle habits, increase cognitive resilience, and reinforce your natural problem-solving instincts.
Resources
- Aarts, Esther, et al. “Dopamine and the Cognitive Motivation to Exert Mental Effort.” Journal of Neuroscience, 2012.
- Beeman, Mark, and John Kounios. “The Cognitive Neuroscience of Insight.” Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 2004.
- Dehaene, Stanislas, et al. “Sources of Mathematical Thinking.” Science, 1999.
- Yin, Henry H., and Bernard Balleine. “Habit Formation and the Basal Ganglia.” Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 2006.
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