Customer Reviews

The Story of Math

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I fell in love with this BBC series while studying for a series of math exams. Marcus Du Sautoy is the real deal -- an accomplished mathematician with a knack for storytelling. And the story of maths is indeed a good story! Du Sautoy presents the history of mathematics in a lively and accessibly way, focusing on historical characters and places as well as why a given discovery was or is important. I've watched some of the episodes more than once -- that's how engaging they are. He doesn't skip over the petty squabbles over credit or the cultural context, and that's a big part of what makes the series fun. Even the non-math people I've shared this series with have enjoyed it. Highly recommended for non-mathematical and mathematical audiences alike.

I know many of you will read the title of this review and think "well that really sounds hard to believe," or write off my enthusiasm as being a mere post-movie dazzlement effect. Really though, when you think about it, it isn't that hard to believe, is it? How many good Math documentaries are there?

Finding good science documentaries is pretty easy. They're on pretty much any cable channel (or PBS) that features these kinds of programs (NOVA, Scientific American, or other similar programs on channels like the Science Channel, the Discovery Channel, National Geographic, etc). But Math documentaries? Those are hard to come by.

This is part of why this documentary is such a gem. Most Math DVDs out there are, in contrast with programs like NOVA that make science interesting, just people explaining formulas in front of a markerboard for an hour. This is not to say there's anything wrong with that, but only to say that there aren't that many production-quality documentaries about Math out there with the goal of entertaining a mass audience while teaching them some interesting facts and priming their interest on the subject.

Since this DVD accomplishes all of that and then some, all with an interesting historical narrative in the background, I can wholeheartedly award it 5 stars. While it isn't hugely more interesting or well-done than a comparable science episode about physics or something on NOVA, it is nonetheless almost the best in its class (Math documentaries) because so few of these types of movies exist in the first place.

Being the first of its kind that I've come across be so successful in this way, I'm happy to give it 5 stars and a recommendation for those who are interested in learning more about Math (and being assisted by beautiful computer-generated imagery) to help accomplish it in an enjoyable and fascinating manner.

No doubt the math masters of the world will award (Prime Number) 5 stars. The mathematics is there as well as very interesting fact and stories of where some of the great numbers thoughts generated from in history. The camera takes you on a Grande Tour of places of the world, beginning with Egypt and the pyramids, in explaining the Pythagorean theorem beginnings, Golden Ratio instances from ancient times, topology, axioms, postulates, and ...

Well, my own educational masters' degree failed to keep up with all of the terminology, and theory, causing me to award only 4 stars. It is my own mathematical ignorance that causes me to fully enjoy this educational DVD set, where others will, and have, called it dazzling. Even at moments when my depth of numbers faltered, bits of facts and stories of historical importance, surfaced to make it a learning experience. Excellent footage, and a well informed mathematical professor/host leads those most interested in math through it's roots as well as it's yet to be explored regions of thought, shape, relationships, time, and count.

Using computer images, today's math in visual form, the patterns and social relationships are investigated, questioned, and philosophized over. It's not for your average viewer, not exactly entertainment; it's a documentary engaging the mind toward the relevance of numbers.

Set includes "The Music of the Primes" (78 min documentary) in the bonus stuff. A completely different DVD with 3 Episodes:
1-- with a 2000-yr tradition
2-- of the 20th century attempts
3-- tech advancements
all leaving the Riemann's hypothesis unproven.

Bonus also includes SDH SUBTITLES, Viewer's guide with episode highlights, questions, and math bibliography and glossary. The glossary includes "chaos theory" which I first thought reflected on my own insight into the discussion of "irrational numbers."

Concluding:
My hypothesis is: there is an "imaginary number" of viewers, perhaps a "prime number", that will indeed find the statement "'THE STORY OF MATH' is WONDERFUL" to be a theorem, proven true by personal experience.

If you think Pythagorean Theorem is a dinosaur, then you probably are not a good fit for "THE STORY OF MATH" DVD. :) :-} ;~) Are infinite smiley-faces probable?

Thank you. I'll be here all week. Try the veal!

As for The Story Of Math(s), I have to say it really is an amazing educational tool, in that it makes the subject utterly fascinating. For a long time I thought I was a math hater, but it turns out I just didn't know math. I was thinking merely of quadratic equations and my Algebra II teacher in high school who, between friends, was a little bit tired of the job at the time. I can't blame her. We were a thankless bunch. If my Algebra II teacher had been Marcus du Sautoy I think I might be some kind of engineer or astronomer today.

So, I am far from a math aficionado. In fact my basic calculation methods are pretty pathetic. There are times that I will resort to finger counting just to be sure. Oh shut up. You check your front door five times when you know it's locked so tell it to Roger Bannister. My point is this... I was never lost or confused while watching this documentary. In fact I was consistently amazed, fascinated and enthralled. It helps to have some kind of interest in numbers. Mine stems from the Fibonacci numbers and the Golden Ratio, although I have a rudimentary understanding of both. Episode Two "The Genius Of The East" gave me a much more solid working knowledge of each. Basically, I am very intrigued by CONCEPTS of mathematics and this program was able to translate my concepts into factual representations from the real world, in order to help me wrap my unconditioned brain around the ideas. The use of live scenes as backgrounds for graphical overlays is simple in a way, but this simplicity allows the complex concepts (complex to ME, genius) to pop off the screen and be more readily digested. Being able to represent numbers or quantities in physical space and move them around, slicing and dicing as needed is just a great visual tool for something that can seem so abstract to the uninitiated.

As touched on in the title, a big part of why these talks work, is the person speaking. I was unfamiliar with du Sautoy before this but I'm a fan now. I was actually a little amazed watching him step gingerly across a complex set of dye pits in India while explaining how people first developed ideas like negative numbers, changing zero from a placeholder to a number in its own right... and infinity itself. I would have fallen in just trying to recite the alphabet while attempting this. The host comes of as confident and authoritative while still being interesting to watch and engaging in tone and style. Being able to mentally multitask while expounding on the topics covered here is no small feat.

The other great thing about this set is that it's not just The Story Of Math. The set also contains a three part series on prime numbers which is a great bonus. If you think you aren't interested in them... once you finish watching the main set, you probably will be. They really are pretty cool.

An excellent stool for middle school age students. However for the student who is more advance in Math, a more detailed explanations of the equations would have been more useful.

I found this quite informative. I think this would be mostly of interest to those somewhat familiar with the subject. My only criticism is that the narration is very rapid and with a subject like this, it might be frustrating to those who have little knowledge of mathematics. To those who can follow, however, it is a definite plus and provides little known information on ancient mathematics, notably, Egypt, Mesopotamia and Greece.

This series is very enjoyable, even for people who typically don't enjoy math. The subject matter is presented so that the viewer begins to understand not only math concepts, but also some of the human drama behind calculus, for example.

I strongly recommend this collection of DVDs to anybody interested on the history of Math and the way they are influencing our lives. The stories contained are very interesting, amusing and explained in simple terms. Everybody can understand mathematics in this way!

Excellent documentary on the history of mathematics. Even though I am not a mathematician, the documentary was very easy to understand. If you're looking at understanding the impact of mathematics on our world and why some people have claimed that "maths are everywhere and that the world may even be mathematics", this documentary is a great place to start your journey.

I really enjoyed this series, and actually showed it to my high school senior math class in 8-10 minute installments. However, unless the viewer is somewhat familiar with the higher math topics, it leaves unanswered the question, "what practical needs led to these discoveries."