Movies starting "mathematics"

BenEadir

Hi all,

Can anyone recommend some movies which illustrate the importance and application of maths in real life? I have a 14 year old son who wants to do honours maths avg I want to encourage him by showing him how maths can change change the world we live in.

I'm thinking about movies like Apollo 13, the Russell Crowe movie about the obsessed mathematician etc but would appreciate other possibly more appropriate suggestions.

fuzzydunlop85

Good will hunting.

BenEadir

fuzzydunlop85 wrote: »

Good will hunting.

Great suggestion, thanks.

Can't believe I didn't spot the predictive text error in the thread title!

e_e

Pi

It's kind of a mathematic horror though. :P

The Strawman Argument

Moneyball would be a good one, most films revolving around financial markets will have some (dunno if that's how you'd like it represented though ), lower level gambling things too
...how about documentaries?


Also, if you fancy some reading materials, Simon Singh writes some extremely easy to read books about math.

BenEadir

Thanks guys, Moneyball is a great suggestions as we're both into sport.

I'll check out Simon Singh but that might be pushing it a bit!!

Bacchus

A Beautiful Mind - though he goes crazy in the end.
21 - No idea if it's any good but it's all about card counting which involves quite a bit of math.
Cube - Mild horror movie with a strong maths element

Maths saves the day

Star Wars - If the Kessel run is typically 18 parsecs but the Millennium Falcon did it in less than 12 parsec, how awesome is the Millennium Falcon?

BenEadir

Hi Bacchus,

A Beautiful Mind is on the list all right and 21 has already been viewed. Interestingly my son enjoys playing Texas Holdem, his national school teacher used to let them play during their maths class!! (I know 21 was about pontoon not poker)

I also found The Science of Secrecy documentary by Simon Singh (suggested by TSA above) which looks fascinating - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_mlyruYQ24&feature=em-share_video_user

With winter well and truly here I'm looking to build a catalogue of interesting content to watch with my son otherwise he'll end up watching mind numbing crap!!

blue note

There's a series on netflix that I hear is quite good called "numbers". I think a guy solves crime using mathematics. Might be exactly what your looking for!

BenEadir

blue note wrote: »

There's a series on netflix that I hear is quite good called "numbers". I think a guy solves crime using mathematics. Might be exactly what your looking for!

This is it http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0433309 - Looks just the sort of thing he'd enjoy. Thanks.

AnonoBoy

That new film The Imitation Game is about mathematician Alan Turing and his team cracking the Enigma code.

BenEadir

BenEadir wrote: »

Hi all,

Can anyone recommend some movies which illustrate the importance and application of maths in real life? I have a 14 year old son who wants to do honours maths avg I want to encourage him by showing him how maths can change change the world we live in.

I'm thinking about movies like Apollo 13, the Russell Crowe movie about the obsessed mathematician etc but would appreciate other possibly more appropriate suggestions.

how about any films with john Travolta??? because they illustrate that sometimes even people can defy the laws of physics and maths!!
what are the chances of him ever getting a film role??? now that's good maths!

kingtiger

he may enjoy Primer not really based on maths but it really does get you thinking

BarryD

I haven't seen it and as it's described as an erotic film about math, it might not be entirely suitable But then again, it's sure bound to be different! I refer to the Rites of Love and Math by Edward Frenkel http://ritesofloveandmath.com/ There's trailers online.

Edward Frenkel is a Russian mathematician and a professor of maths in California. He's also written a book Love & Math, The Heart of Hidden Reality - no erotica in this, just the story of his life and explorations into various aspects of maths.

Dempsey

Wall Street

BenEadir

Dempsey wrote: »

Wall Street

Yeah, watched it with him. Great movie.

Fyi the first episode of Numb3rs was watched last night and deemed a success.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions, they are much appreciated.

hardCopy

kingtiger wrote: »

he may enjoy Primer not really based on maths but it really does get you thinking

If he enjoys Primer he should definitely be able for honors maths :Pac:

cerastes

e_e wrote: »

Pi

It's kind of a mathematic horror though. :P

Damn, beat me to it
so err, the Life of Pi

rusty cole wrote: »

how about any films with john Travolta??? because they illustrate that sometimes even people can defy the laws of physics and maths!!
what are the chances of him ever getting a film role??? now that's good maths!

Damn, you made me blow a snot out my nose trying to stop spraying the drink I was having going everywhere, which it did slightly. Note to self, dont read and drink when you are uncertain of the ending

BenEadir

hardCopy wrote: »

If he enjoys Primer he should definitely be able for honors maths :Pac:

I'll have to see about that!!

BTW, I watched Fermat's Last Theorem myself last night https://vimeo.com/18216532. What a great story.

mrsdewinter

+1 on Cube. Saw it about 15 years ago and I still think about it. Think it would appeal to a teenage boy too.

Manchegan

He absolutely, positively has to see Sneakers(1992). That film is never going to age. A mathematician was seconded to advise on the script, specifically the central lecture, which is accurate up to the brink (where, for dramatic purposes, it strays into fantasy)

I always wanted to legitimately work the phrase "A breakthrough of Gaussian proportions!" into conversation afterwards.

BenEadir

OK, Sneakers is on Netflix but Cube isn't. I'll find it somewhere.

I'm building up wuite a nice collection of maths related movies, TV series and documentaries here!!!

I bet no one can beat 703 "maths" related documentaries to watch here http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/search/?results=maths

:-)

--LOS--

What about Dara O Briain's School of Hard Sums series

henryporter

What about π (Pi) by Darren Aronofsky - looks at mathematical theory of everything.

Also 21 with Kevin Spacey (mathematicians card counting in Vegas).

+1 for Primer - one of my favourites.

Bipolar Joe

Fermat's Room, maybe? But the movie kind of sucks. Donald Duck's Mathmagic.

ecoli

Oxford Murders? Novel adaptation from a mathematician and based around logic. Pretty interesting one even if it does star Elijah Wood.