Uploaded March 2010 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Why does 0! equal one? This is weird! Multiply together all the digits from one up to zero and get one???
This video explains simply why mathematicians choose (and it is a choice!) to set this illogical quantity as equal to one.
Why does 0! equal one? This is weird! Multiply together all the digits from one up to zero and get one???
This video explains simply why mathematicians choose (and it is a choice!) to set this illogical quantity as equal to one.


![Parentheses Numbers / Catalan Numbers: Part I (Tanton Mathematics)
Here is a classic puzzle: In how many ways can one arrange parentheses around a sum of N terms so that one is only ever adding two things at a time? [This is a great puzzle for students to do when they are first learning about parentheses!]
It turns out to be tricky, but in this video we come up with a good way of computing these numbers. In part II of this video, we go further and find an actual explicit formula for them! Parentheses Numbers / Catalan Numbers: Part I (Tanton Mathematics)](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/m9Khxn2g-6w/mqdefault.jpg)
![Partition Numbers Part IV: An Accessible Overview (Tanton: Mathematics)
[Part IV of IV] In January 2011 there was a breakthrough in a famous, tough, unsolved problem in mathematics - finding a formula for the partition numbers. In this series if mini-videos I give an accessible introduction and overview of the mathematics and history of these numbers. We start with childs play, move to the work of Euler and Ramanujan, and then in the final video, attempt to give a sense of what the recent breakthrough is for all those who dont have the high-powered mathematics at hand. Partition Numbers Part IV: An Accessible Overview (Tanton: Mathematics)](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/nZ2QUQr2UgU/mqdefault.jpg)






