Ideas worth spreading

The mathematics of war

1,056,475 views |

Sean Gourley |

TED2009

• February 2009

By analyzing raw data on violent incidents in the Iraq war and others, Sean Gourley and his team claim to have found a surprisingly strong mathematical relationship linking the fatality and frequency of attacks.

By analyzing raw data on violent incidents in the Iraq war and others, Sean Gourley and his team claim to have found a surprisingly strong mathematical relationship linking the fatality and frequency of attacks.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

About the speaker

Sean Gourley

Physicist and military theorist

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Sean Gourley, trained as a physicist, has turned his scientific mind to analyzing data about a messier topic: modern war and conflict. He is a TED Fellow.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.