Dr Hannah Fry is presenting this year’s Lectures | Copyright (c) Paul Wilkinson 2019

Join Hannah Fry as she unmasks the hidden numbers, rules and patterns that secretly control our daily lives, in ways we could never imagine. The Lectures are broadcast on BBC4 at 8pm each night between 26-28 December 2019.

In Lecture one, Hannah seeks to find the luckiest member of the audience. It seems a sensible plan. The biggest events in your life – finding the perfect partner or a job, staying healthy and happy – rely on a huge element of luck. Or does probability allow us to understand and predict complex systems?

Watch Lecture one (from 26th December)

In Lecture two, we see how ‘chaining probabilities together’ help us to understand even more complex systems. Through entertaining examples, Hannah shows how data-gobbling algorithms have taken over our lives and now control almost everything we do without us even realising.

Watch Lecture two (from 27th December)

In Lecture three, Hannah looks at why maths can fail and asks what the limits of maths are. Are there problems maths can’t or shouldn’t solve? And in an age where ‘fake news’ abounds and statistics can be twisted to prove anything, should we always trust in numbers?

Watch Lecture three (from 28th December)

Find more information on the CHRISTMAS LECTURES at the Royal Institution’s website.