'Hidden numbers' have a profound effect on our lives - from online dating and falling in love to manipulating our decisions through targeted advertising and fake news. In this year's Royal Institution Christmas Lectures, Mathematician and author Hannah Fry will explore how maths, numbers and data patterns can help explain make sense of life's human experiences. She will also be asking the big ethical questions about the data (and trust) that we gift companies such as Netflix and Amazon and how they use this information to develop new unprecedented levels of control. 'I'd argue that maths is the most important idea that humans have ever had. It's the foundation of science,' said Dr Fry.