Dwarf and Giant Numbers - Christmas Lectures - Lecture 5

This lecture from The Royal Institution's 1968 Christmas Lectures series features physicist Philip Morrison exploring the science of numbers and their significance in understanding scale. Delve into the fascinating world of small and large numbers, inspired by Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels." Discover how the arithmetic of ratios transitions to the science of numbers themselves, and learn why chance events, atomic structures, and the formation of matter are fundamentally governed by numerical relationships. Understand how the number of atoms allowing a process to start becomes critically important in natural phenomena like bubbles rising from boiling water or snow crystal formation. Recorded on December 5, 1968, this hour-long presentation is part of a broader series examining how scale influences our perception of the world and the fundamental nature of everything from ants to stars.