Is every card shuffle unique?
Why every card shuffle is an unprecedented event in the history of the universe.
Can it really be true that every shuffle of a deck of cards is unique? Mathematician and stand-up comedian Matt Parker claims that every time you do a shuffle, the cards have never been in that order before.
But how can he be so confident? Matt came into the studio armed with a deck of cards and some very big calculations to back up his big assertion, and introduced us to the mind-splitting mathematical world of factorials and combinatorics.
Presenter: Tim Harford
Producer: Nathan Gower
Series producer: Tom Colls
Sound engineer: James Beard
Programme co-ordinator: Brenda Brown
Editor: Richard Vadon
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Broadcasts
- Sat 5 Sep 202605:50BBC World Service except Australasia, East and Southern Africa, East Asia & South Asia & Live News
- Sun 6 Sep 202600:50BBC World Service Australasia
- Sun 6 Sep 202605:50BBC World Service East and Southern Africa, South Asia & East Asia only
- Sun 6 Sep 202609:50BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East & West and Central Africa only
- Sun 6 Sep 202611:50BBC World Service except East and Southern Africa, Europe and the Middle East & West and Central Africa
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Tim Harford explains the numbers and statistics used in everyday life.
