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Everyone knows what a knot is. But knots have special significance in math and science because their properties can help unlock secrets hidden within topics ranging as widely as the biochemistry of DNA, the synthesis of new materials, and the geometry of three-dimensional spaces. In his podcast, The Joy of Wh(Y), the sensational Steven Strogatz explores the mysteries of knots with his fellow mathematicians Colin Adams and Lisa Piccirillo…

How do mathematicians distinguish different types of knots? How many different kinds of knots are there? And why do mathematicians and scientists care about knots anyway? Turns out, there’s lots of real-world applications for this branch of math, now called knot theory. It started out with the mystery of the chemical elements about 150 years ago, which were, at the time, thought to be different kinds of knots tied in the ether. Nowadays, knot theory is helping us understand how enzymes can disentangle strands of linked DNA. And also, knot theory has potential in basic research to create new kinds of medicines, including some chemotherapy drugs. But in math itself, knot theory is helping mathematicians work out the riddles of higher-dimensional spaces…

The study of knots unites the interests of researchers in fields from molecular biology to theoretical physics: “Untangling Why Knots Are Important,” from @stevenstrogatz in @QuantaMagazine. Listen here; read the transcript here.

* Athanasius Kircher

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As we take stock of tangles, we might might send nicely-tied birthday greetings to a beneficiary and user of knot theory, Francis Collins; he was born on this date in 1950. A physician and geneticist, he discovered the genes associated with a number of diseases, led the Human Genome Project, and served as the director of the National Institutes of Health.

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