The
documentary film written and presented by Marcus du Sautoy, a British professor
from the University of Oxford, titled “The Story of Maths” is a four-part
series which outlined the aspects of the history of mathematics.
In
the first episode titled “The Language of the Universe”, Marcus opens the
curtains of enlightenment by conveying to viewers the simple ideas that
explains how important and fundamental mathematics is to our lives. The main
objective of this episode according to Marcus, though he did not stated it
clearly, is to bring people towards the appreciation of mathematics by giving
ingenious and clever historical facts that led to the persisting development of math.
The
intriguing words of Marcus, “Our world is made up of patterns and sequences. One
of the reasons mathematics began was because we needed to find a way of making
sense of this natural patterns. “, is where this film revolves.
I
find this documentary film attention-grabbing because every single fact
presented in the film tried to amaze me, because each one of it unfolded locked
ideas that I have just heard for the first time. These ideas that I am
pertaining to are the: strong link between beaurocasy and the development of
math in Egypt because there was an uprising need to count and measure. That the
“first steps of man’s mathematical journey were taken by the ancient cultures
of Egypt, Mesopotamia and Greece. Cultures which created the basic language of
number and calculation.”The unique number system of Egypt and Mesopotamia, the
60-based system of the Babylonians, using math to measure quantities,
constructing buildings and pyramids based on math principles and even using
math as a “weapon of destruction” as what Archimedes did.
I
also appreciated how Marcus took us viewers inside the lives of many greatest
mathematicians. Showing to us how those mathematicians transformed mathematics
from a tool for counting into the analytical subject we know today. Though, I
doubt I should be thanking them. Seriously, should we really thank them for
making mathematics so complicated? But, I have understand the very reason they
had for making such reckless act, they wanted to solve things they thought
should be solved. They wanted to explain things through mathematics. Of course,
because they are mathematicians, it is their passion.
From
those cited facts and evidences, truly I can say that Marcus is right for
saying, “Proof is what gives mathematics its strength”.
The facts presented in the documentary about the history of math was very interesting and mind-blowing. After you finish watching it, you just then realize how amazing math is.
ReplyDeletewell done. i like the quote you wrote in the last part of your movie review. although mathematics started with the application and proofs were made in the later part, nowadays proof is definitely what gives mathematics its strength.
ReplyDelete"Our world is made up of patterns and sequences." This statement is almost poetic if you come to think of it. :) I too, liked the way Prof. Sautoy presented mathematics in this documentary. Light-hearted, brief yet straight to the point, not lacking in emphasis and not discussed to the point of overselling.
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