Shortly after 香蕉视频直播淢ath in Drag香蕉视频直播� hit the shelves in book stores across North America, author Kyne Santos found herself in a New York City elevator with renowned astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson.

香蕉视频直播淚 was just, like, fangirling so hard,香蕉视频直播� she said in a recent video interview about last week香蕉视频直播檚 chance meeting, Rubik香蕉视频直播檚 cube earrings dangling from her lobes. 香蕉视频直播淎nd you know what香蕉视频直播檚 crazy? He knew who I was.香蕉视频直播�

Of course he did. She香蕉视频直播檚 Kyne.

Santos was a contestant on the first season of the television show Canada香蕉视频直播檚 Drag Race, but she香蕉视频直播檚 perhaps more widely known on TikTok, where she guides 1.5 million followers into a glittering world of mathematics. In her videos, and now with her book, she reveals the wonders of infinities and imaginary numbers, showing that math is a mind-bending universe that pushes the limits of our imagination 香蕉视频直播� just like drag.

香蕉视频直播淢ath is really about creativity,香蕉视频直播� she said from her home in Kitchener, Ont. 香蕉视频直播淪ometimes in math, we question our assumptions, we rewrite our definitions, we rethink our frameworks. And really, it is a lot like drag because they香蕉视频直播檙e both creative, we do them both for fun, and they both operate in metaphors and abstraction, and tearing down stereotypes and frameworks and rebuilding them from the ground up.香蕉视频直播�

Santos has always been good at math, but she fell in love with it participating in high school math competitions, she said, where the questions were less about computing an answer than about taking apart ideas and figuring out why something is true. She said competitions showed her that math went beyond memorizing formulas.

香蕉视频直播淭he way that we香蕉视频直播檙e teaching math to kids is 香蕉视频直播� a lot like teaching art to kids by having them paint a fence,香蕉视频直播� she said. 香蕉视频直播淭hey香蕉视频直播檙e not going to walk away from that thinking, 香蕉视频直播業 love art.香蕉视频直播櫹憬妒悠抵辈��

During high school was also when she fell in love with drag. She experimented with makeup and launched a YouTube channel giving beauty tutorials, and eventually evolved into Kyne, the drag queen.

香蕉视频直播淚 saw RuPaul香蕉视频直播檚 Drag Race for the first time and I saw that these queens were just creative, sensitive souls like I was who played with makeup, and extended it into hair pieces and costumes and wigs and song and dance, just everything that I love,香蕉视频直播� she said.

She was at the University of Waterloo doing an undergraduate math degree when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and she used her time in lockdown to make her first TikTok video about math, in full drag. Recording a video as Kyne, she said, was a way to invite her audience into a creative, more open state of mind 香蕉视频直播� the same state she hopes they香蕉视频直播檒l use with mathematics.

It seems to have worked: the videos took off.

Released March 5, 香蕉视频直播淢ath in Drag香蕉视频直播� blends Kyne香蕉视频直播檚 personal history with accessible explorations of higher-level mathematical concepts. In one chapter, she writes about her father香蕉视频直播檚 death, and uses a story about his fastidiousness with money to explain exponential growth. In another, she writes about the homophobia drag queens face for pushing gender boundaries, linking it to mathematical concepts that break the rules, like a graph that seems to allow dividing by zero, which, according to the average calculator, is strictly forbidden.

The history of mathematics has a lot to teach people who support anti-LGTBQ hate and protest drag shows, she said.

For example, the concept of zero was wildly controversial before it assumed its rightful spot on the number line. The idea forced mathematicians, scientists, philosophers 香蕉视频直播� even the Catholic Church 香蕉视频直播� to re-examine their idea of what a number is and could be.

香蕉视频直播淲hy can香蕉视频直播檛 we do that with drag? Why can香蕉视频直播檛 we do that with everything?香蕉视频直播� she said. 香蕉视频直播淲hen we encounter new things in the wild, instead of saying, 香蕉视频直播楾hat doesn香蕉视频直播檛 fit the definition,香蕉视频直播� we should just change the definitions, and we should rewrite the frameworks to include other types of people.香蕉视频直播�

Santos was selected to be part of the first season of Canada香蕉视频直播檚 Drag Race 香蕉视频直播� a reality competition for drag queens, based on the American version of Rupaul香蕉视频直播檚 Drag Race 香蕉视频直播� which aired in 2020. She was sent home after the second episode, but she said the experience taught her to trust herself and lean into her strengths, like teaching about math.

She admires the British mathematician Eugenia Cheng, whose book 香蕉视频直播淗ow to Bake Pi香蕉视频直播� uses dessert recipes to explain an abstract branch of math called category theory. She also admires RuPaul, who is credited with helping to bring drag mainstream.

香蕉视频直播淚 think that what RuPaul has done has opened up the doors for queens like me to do different things in drag, like put out a book and be on television,香蕉视频直播� Santos said. 香蕉视频直播淚 really respect her hustle.香蕉视频直播�

She香蕉视频直播檚 set to begin a cross-Canada tour for 香蕉视频直播淢ath in Drag香蕉视频直播� next month. She also wants to keep teaching, perhaps beyond TikTok, and maybe go to graduate school.

And after that elevator ride last week, she may even be a guest on deGrasse Tyson香蕉视频直播檚 podcast.

香蕉视频直播淚 love doing what I do. I love educating people. I love doing the TikTok videos,香蕉视频直播� she said. 香蕉视频直播淚f I could just do this forever, I香蕉视频直播檇 be so happy with that.香蕉视频直播�