I think sometimes, mathematicians get accused,
by distilling everything into equations,
of taking the romance out of nature.
But for me, I think it just really adds to,
and enriches how beautiful the real world is.
My favourite equation is the Navier-Stokes
equations.
It can describe how all fluids, liquids, gases,
everything from the tiny water droplet on
a leaf, all the way through to the formation
of a massive galaxy will move and deform,
and how they'll behave.
And the reason why I really like these equations
is because I think they're the perfect illustration
of just how powerful mathematics is as a language
to be able to describe the world around us.
The number of applications, though, of these
equations is vast.
So they can explain everything from how an
insect can walk on water,
how a swimsuit should be designed, behind the scenes in weather prediction,
where you imagine the entire world's atmosphere
as a single fluid, moving around.
When people are writing computer games, trying
to make fluid movement inside the game look
as realistic as possible.
People like Nasa also use these equations
when they're studying, say, the surface of
the sun, or big dust clouds that you get,
or in galaxy formation.
Knowing that there is this mathematical connection
between those things, and being able to see
an equation evolve from describing one all
through to describing the other, for me that
only makes your experience of the world around
you even more beautiful.
