The Unintended Consequences of Math

Scientific discoveries often follow the law of unintended consequences when new applications, not predicted at the time of the discovery, often lead to drawbacks or even troubling uses decades or centuries later. In this excellent audio program from BBC Radio three academic experts chat about such unintended consequences of mathematical discoveries. Some of the examples are:

The cubic equations which led, after 400 years, to the development of alternating current - and the electric chair.

The centuries-old work on games of chance which eventually contributed to the birth of population statistics.


The discovery of non-Euclidean geometry, which crucially provided an 'off-the-shelf' solution which helped Albert Einstein forge his theory of relativity.

The 17th-century theorem which became the basis for credit card encryption