★Mathematics emerged from the requirements of the world of matter, but also, like art, from our need for the ideal, the beautiful, the universal.

Mathematics is not your bête noir, nor is it reserved for geniuses. It helps us in all the things we do, every minute of every day. It is the basis of our collective choices, as shown by the Covid-19 pandemic, but it is also ubiquitous in our everyday lives - we may not see it, and yet it is ubiquitous and essential. It’s there when we Google something, pay with our credit cards, navigate cities with our GPS. When we do our weekly shopping or travel on public transport. When we listen to music or do an MRI. Even animals use it, from ants to dogs.

And it was math that made possible humanity’s greatest and proudest achievements - from the foundation of Carthage to the masterpieces of Van Gogh, from the mountain climbs of Messner to the universal poetry of Szymborska.

Giovanni Sebastiani invites us to see the world through the eyes of a mathematician works with numbers every day, taking us on a universally accessible journey through their magic.

Giovanni Sebastiani is a CNR researcher in mathematics applied to medicine and works at Mauro Picone Institute for applied mathematics. From 2006 to 2016 he taught at the Mathematics Department of the University of Rome. After his experience in volunteer work for the victims of the 2009 earthquake in L’Aquila he has been studying the application of mathematics and statistics to seismology. Since March 2020 he has been focusing his research on the Covid-19 pandemic.