to infinity and beyond -- Story of Maths Part four

               Infinity, it is a nonfigurative concept which describes something that is without limits, boundary. For me it is irrelevant since you can’t see, you could only imagine it. How can something unseen and is only imagined been important to mathematics? It seemed like the word “infinity” has been used only as a noun to describe physical entities which are considered to be infinite.

               The 4^th and last episode of the Story of Maths discussed some of the immense unsolved problems that tackled mathematics in the 20^th century and told the stories of the mathematicians who tried to work them out. In this episode, the concept which was avoided by many mathematicians was explored—infinity.

           In the movie, Marcus du Sautoy explored Georg Cantor’s work on infinity as well as Henri Poincare's work on chaos theory. Cantoy found out that there were different kinds of infinity. Poincare’s case was quite amusing since he was trying to solve a mathematical problem but he accidentally fell on chaos theory. This has led to a variety of machines and technologies.

          Marcus du Sautoy then discussed the discoveries and important contributions of other mathematicians. Kurt Godel, who is a member of the ‘Vienna Circle’ of philosophers illustrated that it was not possible for mathematics to establish its own consistency and that the unknown itself a vital part of mathematics. Another mathematician was mentioned in the movie—Paul Cohen. He proved that there are many different sorts of mathematics in which contradictory answers to the similar question was possible. The algebraic geometry developed by André Weil, along with his colleagues was also examined. Algebraic geometry is a very important field of study since it helped solve many mathematical equations like Fermat’s Last Theorem.  Another one is Alexander Grothendieck whose ideas had a big influence on the present mathematical views about the unseen structures behind all mathematics.

He also reflects on the contributions of Alexander Grothendieck, whose ideas have had a major influence on current mathematical thinking about the hidden structures behind all mathematics. Marcus concludes his journey by considering the great unsolved problems of mathematics today, including the Riemann Hypothesis - a conjecture about the distribution of prime numbers – which are the atoms of the mathematical universe. There is now $1 million prize and a place in the history books for anyone who can prove Riemann’s theorem.

               He concluded his voyage by considering the great unanswered problems of mathematics today. One of these is the Riemann Hypothesis which is a hypothesis about the allocation of prime numbers. A million dollar prize and a place in history books await anyone who can prove the Riemann's theorem.

               Even though this movie was the last part of the series it proved that there is still more things to learn about math. And I think infinite number of movies will be needed to fully unveil mathematics.

               Mathematics really is a very important discovery of humans. It is a product of the collective effort, curiosity and intelligence of not only the know mathematicians but everyone who uses it. it is amazing how mathematical ideas supported science, technology and cultures that shaped our world.

               Because of the series “Story of Maths” a big part of mathematics was unveiled and I believe there is still more to be learned and discovered.