Uploaded July 2019 | Updated September 2026, 45 minutes ago

---

Is the hot hand in basketball a real phenomenon or a cognitive illusion? Join Lisa Goldberg, UC Berkeley Professor of Economics and Statistics, as she describes a data-driven approach to this controversial question and explains how data science, despite its great contribution to sports, can go only so far in addressing some of the difficult underlying issues.

Special introduction by UC Berkeley Professor of Mathematics Ken Ribet.

Math Encounters is a public presentation series celebrating the spectacular world of mathematics, presented by the Simons Foundation and the National Museum of Mathematics.

For further information, call the National Museum of Mathematics at (212) 542-0566 or e-mail mathencounters@momath.org.