Puzzles with beautiful solutions

28 lectures, 9 hr 51 min in all

Videos centered on some puzzle with a clever solution.

0 of 28 watched

Start lecture 1

1
This open problem taught me what topology is
27 min
2
Why colliding blocks compute pi
26 min
3
The hardest problem on the hardest test
11 min
4
The last IMO problem AI could not solve
52 min
5
Why is pi here? And why is it squared? A geometric answer to the Basel problem
17 min
6
Olympiad level counting (Generating functions)
35 min
7
The unexpectedly hard windmill question (2011 IMO, P2)
16 min
8
But why is a sphere's surface area four times its shadow?
16 min
9
Solving problems by adding a dimension
30 min
10
This pattern breaks, but for a good reason | Moser's circle problem
16 min
11
A tale of two problem solvers | Average cube shadow area
40 min
12
Why do prime numbers make these spirals? | Dirichlet’s theorem and pi approximations
22 min
13
How to lie using visual proofs
19 min
14
Why slicing a cone gives an ellipse (beautiful proof)
13 min
15
Euler's formula with introductory group theory
24 min
16
All possible pythagorean triples, visualized
15 min
17
Why π is in the normal distribution (beyond integral tricks)
25 min
18
The other way to visualize derivatives | Chapter 12, Essence of calculus
14 min
19
Using topology for discrete problems | The Borsuk-Ulam theorem and stolen necklaces
19 min
20
Pi hiding in prime regularities
30 min
21
Thinking outside the 10-dimensional box
25 min
22
The Brachistochrone, with Steven Strogatz
16 min
23
The impossible chessboard puzzle
19 min
24
How colliding blocks act like a beam of light...to compute pi.
15 min
25
Binary, Hanoi and Sierpinski, part 1
14 min
26
Binary, Hanoi, and Sierpinski, part 2
14 min
27
Music And Measure Theory
13 min
28
Euler's Formula and Graph Duality
7 min