Open-source is for the people, by the people
Travis Oliphant, creator of NumPy and SciPy, joins Ryan to explore the development of Python as a data science tool, the evolution of these foundational libraries, and the importance of community and collaboration in open-source projects, including Travis’ current work to support sustainable open-source through the OpenTeams Incubator.
Episode notes:
NumPy and SciPy are the fundamental packages and algorithms for scientific computing with Python. NumPy 2.3.0 and SciPy 1.16.0 are out now.
The OpenTeams Incubator helps start, grow, and sustain open-source software communities.
Quansight is a data, science, and engineering firm rooted in the work of the Python Data, Science, and AI/ML open-source communities.
Connect with Travis on LinkedIn or email him at travis@OTincubator.com
Today we’re shouting out user RobinFrcd for answering pytest-asyncio has a closed event loop, but only when running all tests and winning a Populist badge.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Python documentary companion pod (Interview)
Our friends at Cult.Repo launched their epic Python documentary on August 28th, 2025! To celebrate, we sat down with Travis Oliphant –creator of NumPy, SciPy, and more– to get his perspective on how Python took over the software world.
Stick around for the twist ending! We set aside Python and dissect Travis’ big idea to make open source projects financially sustainable through direct investment.
Join the discussion
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Featuring:
Travis Oliphant – GitHub, LinkedIn, Mastodon, X
Adam Stacoviak – Website, GitHub, LinkedIn, Mastodon, X
Jerod Santo – Website, GitHub, LinkedIn, Mastodon, X
Show Notes:
Python: The Documentary
NumPy
SciPy.org
Mojo 🔥: Powerful CPU+GPU Programming
FairOSS
tea.xyz
Cult.Repo
Something missing or broken? PRs welcome!
Travis Oliphant: SciPy, NumPy, and Fostering Scientific Python
<p>What went into developing the open-source Python tools data scientists use every day? This week on the show, we talk with Travis Oliphant about his work on SciPy, NumPy, Numba, and many other contributions to the Python scientific community.</p>
<p>Travis discusses his initial involvement in the open-source community and how he discovered Python while working in biomedical imaging. He was trying to find ways to manage large sets of numerical data, which led to his initial contributions and collaborations in building scientific libraries. </p>
<p>His appearance on the show coincides with the release of the Python documentary, in which he’s featured. We discuss the myriad organizations Travis founded, including Quansight, OpenTeams, and Anaconda. We dig into his underlying mission to continue fostering the growth of the open-source scientific computing community.</p>
<p>This episode is sponsored by InfluxData.</p>
<div class="alert alert-primary" role="alert">
<p><strong>Course Spotlight:</strong> <a href="https://realpython.com/courses/numpy-techniques-practical-examples/">NumPy Techniques and Practical Examples</a></p>
<p>In this video course, you’ll learn how to use NumPy by exploring several interesting examples. You’ll read data from a file into an array and analyze structured arrays to perform a reconciliation. You’ll also learn how to quickly chart an analysis and turn a custom function into a vectorized function.</p>
</div>
<p>Topics:</p>
<ul>
<li>00:00:00 – Introduction</li>
<li>00:02:41 – Python documentary</li>
<li>00:07:44 – Getting involved in open source</li>
<li>00:12:04 – Numeric Python</li>
<li>00:15:36 – SciPy and the SciPy community</li>
<li>00:17:35 – Starting to think about entrepreneurship </li>
<li>00:18:16 – NumPy evolving from the work of Numeric</li>
<li>00:22:01 – Sponsor: InfluxData</li>
<li>00:22:53 – Python as controlling code for lower-level libraries</li>
<li>00:23:37 – Numba open-source JIT compiler</li>
<li>00:30:09 – Starting to build in Python before learning it all</li>
<li>00:34:45 – Python as the language AI generates</li>
<li>00:36:31 – Guilds and sharing knowledge</li>
<li>00:40:15 – More NumPy backstory</li>
<li>00:46:36 – Contributing to Python</li>
<li>00:48:24 – Video Course Spotlight</li>
<li>00:49:41 – The investment of companies in Python</li>
<li>00:51:22 – Quansight and businesses in open source</li>
<li>00:53:09 – Open Teams and Quansight details</li>
<li>00:57:14 – NumFOCUS and Anaconda</li>
<li>00:58:51 – FairOSS</li>
<li>01:02:36 – Documenting these efforts</li>
<li>01:05:37 – What are you excited about in the world of Python?</li>
<li>01:07:12 – What do you want to learn next?</li>
<li>01:08:10 – How can people follow your work online?</li>
<li>01:10:03 – Thanks and goodbye</li>
</ul>
<p>Show Links:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqBqdNIPrbo">Python: The Documentary - OFFICIAL TRAILER - Coming August 28 - YouTube</a></li>
<li><a href="http://hugunin.net/papers/hugunin95numpy.html">The Python Matrix Object: Extending Python for Numerical Computation</a></li>
<li><a href="https://j1m.dev/">Jim Fulton</a></li>
<li><a href="http://hugunin.net/">Jim Hugunin - Home</a></li>
<li><a href="https://scipy.github.io/old-wiki/pages/History_of_SciPy">History of SciPy - SciPy wiki dump</a></li>
<li><a href="https://scipy.org/">SciPy</a></li>
<li><a href="https://numpy.org/">NumPy</a></li>
<li><a href="https://numba.pydata.org/">Numba: A High Performance Python Compiler</a></li>
<li><a href="https://lpython.org/">LPython - High performance typed Python compiler</a></li>
<li><a href="https://openteams.com/">OpenTeams: Open SaaS AI Solutions</a></li>
<li><a href="https://quansight.com/">Quansight Consulting</a></li>
<li><a href="https://otincubator.com/">OpenTeams Incubator</a></li>
<li><a href="https://numfocus.org/">NumFOCUS: A Nonprofit Supporting Open Code for Better Science</a></li>
<li><a href="https://anaconda.com/">Anaconda</a></li>
<li><a href="https://faiross.org/">FairOSS</a></li>
<li><a href="https://github.com/faster-cpython/">faster-cpython</a></li>
<li><a href="https://x.com/teoliphant">Travis Oliphant (@teoliphant) / X</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/teoliphant/">Travis Oliphant - LinkedIn</a></li>
</ul>
<p>Level up your Python skills with our expert-led courses:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://realpython.com/courses/data-cleaning-with-pandas-and-numpy/">Data Cleaning With pandas and NumPy</a></li>
<li><a href="https://realpython.com/courses/stacks-queues-ideal-data-structure/">Stacks and Queues: Selecting the Ideal Data Structure</a></li>
<li><a href="https://realpython.com/courses/numpy-techniques-practical-examples/">NumPy Techniques and Practical Examples</a></li>
</ul> <p><a rel="payment" href="https://realpython.com/join">Support the podcast & join our community of Pythonistas</a></p>
765: NumPy, SciPy and the Economics of Open-Source, with Dr. Travis Oliphant
Explore the origins of NumPy and SciPy with their creator, Dr. Travis Oliphant. Discover the journey from personal need to global impact, the challenges overcome, and the future of these essential Python libraries in scientific computing and data science.
This episode is brought to you by the DataConnect Conference, by Data Universe, the out-of-this-world data conference, and by CloudWolf, the Cloud Skills platform. Interested in sponsoring a SuperDataScience Podcast episode? Visit passionfroot.me/superdatascience for sponsorship information.
In this episode you will learn:
• Travis's journey to creating NumPy and SciPy [08:05]
• How Anaconda got started [42:24]
• How Numba, a high-performance Python compiler, was brought to market [54:48]
• Python's influence on the thought processes of scientists and engineers [1:04:21]
• The commercial projects that support Travis’s vast open-source efforts and communities [1:10:22]
• How to get involved in Travis's commercial projects and communities [1:22:34]
• The future of scientific computing and Python libraries [1:29:50]
Additional materials: www.superdatascience.com/765
#224 – Travis Oliphant: NumPy, SciPy, Anaconda, Python & Scientific Programming
Travis Oliphant is a data scientist, entrepreneur, and creator of NumPy, SciPy, and Anaconda. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:
– Novo: https://banknovo.com/lex
– Allform: https://allform.com/lex to get 20% off
– Onnit: https://lexfridman.com/onnit to get up to 10% off
– Athletic Greens: https://athleticgreens.com/lex and use code LEX to get 1 month of fish oil
– Blinkist: https://blinkist.com/lex and use code LEX to get 25% off premium
EPISODE LINKS:
Travis’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/teoliphant
Travis’s Wiki Page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travis_Oliphant
NumPy: https://numpy.org/
SciPy: https://scipy.org/about.html
Anaconda: https://www.anaconda.com/products/individual
Quansight: https://www.quansight.com
PODCAST INFO:
Podcast website: https://lexfridman.com/podcast
Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2lwqZIr
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8
RSS: https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/
YouTube Full Episodes: https://youtube.com/lexfridman
YouTube Clips: https://youtube.com/lexclips
SUPPORT & CONNECT:
– Check out the sponsors above, it’s the best way to support this podcast
– Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lexfridman
– Twitter: https://twitter.com/lexfridman
– Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lexfridman
– LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lexfridman
– Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lexfridman
– Medium: https://medium.com/@lexfridman
OUTLINE:
Here’s the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.
(00:00) – Introduction
(07:06) – Early programming
(28:47) – SciPy
(45:41) – Open source
(57:23) – NumPy
(1:34:39) – Guido van Rossum
(1:46:57) – Efficiency
(1:55:49) – Objects
(2:02:47) – Numba
(2:11:53) – Anaconda
(2:16:20) – Conda
(2:31:56) – Quansight Labs
(2:35:32) – OpenTeams
(2:43:05) – GitHub
(2:48:35) – Marketing
(2:53:13) – Great programming
(3:04:03) – Hiring
(3:08:01) – Advice for young people
#217: Notebooks vs data science-enabled scripts
See the full show notes for this episode on the website at talkpython.fm/217