Movie Review: The Story of Maths-Frontiers of Space

“Without this golden age of mathematics from Descartes to Riemann, there will be no calculus, no quantum physics, and no relativity, none of the technology used today.”

            By now we have realized that mathematics has affected our daily activities in more ways than one. The first and second installment of the series of story of maths had explained how numbers have evolved to counting days, to finance, to creation of landmarks such as the pyramids. The third installment focuses more on the power of perspective-geometry.

            This series had named many mathematicians all over Europe, who, in their own ways developed and contributed ideas on geometry and calculus. Descartes, the prime mover of linking algebra and geometry had built the foundations in which other mathematicians like Newton, Liebniz, Bernoulli, Euler and many more have been known upon. Primarily, the third installment of the series somewhat summarizes the evolution of geometry and calculus in perspective with motion. As what Newton was famous for, his discovery of calculus helped us describe movement. Through this we were able to understand more of the complex changing world. Through the evolving discoveries from the foundations of Descartes which were passed on from one mathematician to another, it was riveting to have known from the ideas of geometry  and calculus, the shapes of space are being discovered. This discovery has allowed us to broaden our imagination in creating dimensions and perspectives we thought were non-existent at all.

Flagellation of Christ-Pierro dela Francesca
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Piero_-_The_Flagellation.jpg

            Like Pierro’s painting Flagellation of Christ, we see the play on perspectives brought to us by the ingenuity of the minds of our former mathematicians. It is interesting in a way that we can see that science and art are joined together to prove the existence of different shapes and forms of space. Because of the great contributions of these mathematicians in this field of science, we are able to be what we are, in our advanced technologies, in our present day.