Mathematicians and physicists today think and calculate in much more than three dimensions. String theory - which attempts to unify the workings of all forces in nature, needs as many as eleven, to explain the workings of the smallest particles

But in the early nineteenth century, even the fifth dimension was revolutionary. Thinking about what it would look like required a lot of thinking and calculating for Groningen mathematician Hendrik Pieter Schoute.

But then he met Alicia Boole Stott. A woman from Britain who, without any formal training, made cardboard models that matched exactly what he had calculated.

This episode was written and researched by Christien Boomsma. Voices by Christien Boomsma, Rob van der Wal and Giulia Fabrizi. Sound by Rob van der Wal.

Shownotes

Want to know more? Check it out:

Irene Polo-Blanco. Alicia Boole Stott, a geometer in higher dimension. Historia Mathematica 35 March 2008, pp 123-139