School of Mathematics

Mathematical Beauty and Neurology

Magnus Linklater interviewed Sir Michael Atiyah (a member of the School) in The Times on 29th March about the paper he coauthored with neurologists S.Zeki, J.P.Romaya and D.M.T.Benincasa establishing that the brain perceives mathematical beauty in the same way as any other beauty:

   The experience of mathematical beauty and its neural correlates  (Frontiers in Human Neuroscience,13 February 2014).

The full text of interview can be seen here, and a photo of Sir Michael with a blackboard of equations (photographed in the School of Mathematics by James Glossop) is on the Times Scotland website.

The paper has also attracted other media attention:

BBC NEWS The Times The Independent  Medical Daily  Science Daily  Press TV  Canadian Broadcasting Corporation  Indian Express  Huffington Post