Logarithms: Applications in Mobile Technology, Pandemic Modeling, and Social Networks

Explore the fundamental concepts and wide-ranging applications of logarithms in this 53-minute lecture by Professor Oliver Johnson. Discover how logarithms, far from being an outdated mathematical tool, play a crucial role in modern life. Learn about their use in modeling the COVID-19 pandemic, Claude Shannon's information theory that enables mobile phone technology, and understanding social media follower numbers. Delve into the history and basics of logarithms before examining their natural fit for representing various models and datasets. The lecture covers topics such as pandemic graph interpretation, logarithm invention, predictive modeling in epidemiology, information theory, and social network analysis. Conclude with a Q&A session to further enhance your understanding of this powerful mathematical concept and its real-world implications.

Introduction
How COVID pandemic graphs got it wrong
What is a logarithm?
Who invented logarithms?
How logarithms can help us better predict a pandemic's spread
Claude Shannon's work on logarithms and information theory
How logarithms explain social networks
Conclusion
Q&A Session