The Story of Maths

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Pinwheel

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Has anyone watched this series? It was on BBC Four not long ago. Im a fan of Marcus du Sautoy, he brings a certain enthusiasm for mathematics that I struggle to find in the mainstream.

In this landmark series of films for BBC FOUR, Marcus du Sautoy, Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford, escorts viewers through the history of this most important of all intellectual disciplines. In a journey that takes him through the ages and around the world, he examines the development of key mathematical ideas and shows how, in a multitude of surprising ways, mathematical ideas underpin the science, technology, and culture that shape our world.
Click to expand...

Part One
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sfgy96Msq7Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ny56wXK8nA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LXMdTA8c2g

..and more on youtube....some freak has the whole series..
 
Pinwheel said:
Has anyone watched this series? It was on BBC Four not long ago. Im a fan of Marcus du Sautoy, he brings a certain enthusiasm for mathematics that I struggle to find in the mainstream.



Part One
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sfgy96Msq7Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ny56wXK8nA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LXMdTA8c2g

..and more on youtube....some freak has the whole series..
Click to expand...

Ah nice one, thanks for that. I'm quite a fan of du Sautoy, never seen this though. I can't believe it passed me by.

Did you watch his Horizon episode about consciousness and existence? It was actually really decent.

I'm a student at Oxford. I only wish he still lectured proper courses, he does the odd teaching workshop-y kind of things, but to have him for number theory would have been awesome.
 
Pinwheel said:
...
..and more on youtube....some freak has the whole series..
Click to expand...
Wow, that is a great series. I started out with your links and ended up watching the whole Part 1 of the four part series. I am looking forward to the next part.

It is interesting to note that some of the earliest uses of the method to calculate the area of irregular parcels of land were in order to allow Egyptians to tax them properly :).

In minute three of part two is a moment for Kai. Hint of geometric series. Or was it a hint of the potentially infinite 4-D expansion? Just kidding you people.

From 800 BC a complete list of lunar eclipses; Babylonian. Ingriguing.

Behind the great presentation of the history of math is a great travel log of the ancient world; well worth watching.

Pythagoras and the harmonic series. Excellent insight and interesting how it came about.

Who knocked the noses off of all of those statues?

Is it an axiom that there cannot be an infinite length of time between two events in time?

To you mathematicians, let Archimedes’ death be a lesson to you :).

These are only meant as discussion starters for those who have watched Part !.
 
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