For centuries scientists have tried to identify what is special about the human brain. How do we approach this problem from a mathematical standpoint? The first hypothesis is that bigger is better, in some sense. In this introductory lecture, scaling laws and simple ideas from statistics will be used to study this problem, both in humans and animals, as well as uncover some basic principles that govern brain size and test hypotheses connecting intelligence to size in humans and animals.. This lecture was recorded by Alain Goriely on 17th September 2024 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London Alain is Gresham Professor of Geometry. He is currently the Director of the Oxford Centre for Industrial and Applied Mathematics and was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2022.
Gresham College lectured by Alain Goriely
