After writing about some well known people with degrees in mathematics, I was moved to re-listen to some old Tom Lehrer songs on YouTube. I decided I’d post some links to his more mathematical songs here. Enjoy.
First, “Lobachevsky,” a song about the Russian mathematician Nikolai Lobachevsky and his discovery of non-Euclidean geometry, which some historians claimed was actually due to Gauss (this claim of plagiarism now seems to have been thoroughly refuted):
Here are some other videos:
- Decimal
- The Professor’s Song
- New Math
- Derivative Song
- That’s Mathematics!
- There is a Delta for Every Epsilon
Here are some audio-only songs:
David Richeson: Division by Zero 
In the subject of math songs, my favorite one is definitely Finite Simple Group of Order Two: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTby_e4-Rhg
That is a fantastic song. The first time I saw it I thought, “I know those stairs!” Sure enough, it is Lunt Hall at Northwestern University, where I went to graduate school. Many of the audience members are my professors.
You might also check out the Pysical Revue at http://www.haverford.edu/physics-astro/songs/lehrer/physrev.htm#songs, which includes live performances from a 1952 gig at Harvard. I usually play “Any questions?” for my calculus classes right before I administer the final exam.
Thanks, Travis! I just added it and the Slide Rule Song to the post above.
The version of New Math that you post is truncated. It includes only the first (decimal) half. The second (octal) half is what makes it so funny. I recommend replacing that link with this one, twice as long.
Thanks, Gene! I replaced my link with yours.
Oops … wanted to check the “follow-up” box.
My Geometry students have a math video project each year. This is the first year I feel that one of my groups have plagerised their music. I really feel I have heard this song before: It is about Pythagorean Theorem sung to the tune of Jesus loves me.
If anyone else knows of this song, please let me know the exact website.
Thanks amillion.