However, the truth of the matter is that math has a fascinating and mesmerizing life of its own, and those who have really confronted its secrets have found it to be a source of love, respect, admiration, inspiration, despair, confusion and wonder. Whatever else it may be, math is not boring... not if you actually pay attention.
In the following set of short documentaries, which you should definitely share with your mathophobe friends, Professor Marcus du Sautoy explores the lives, the insights, the contributions and the influence of some of history's greatest mathematicians.
Newton and Leibniz:
Leonard Euler:
Joseph Fourier:
Evariste Galois:
Carl Friedrich Gauss:
The Mathematicians who helped Einstein:
Georg Cantor:
Henri Poincare:
Hardy and Ramanujan:
Nicolas Bourbaki:
What other mathematicians would you have included in this list?
And for a touching and fascinating biography/tribute to Cantor, don't forget to check out the spectacular documentary Dangerous Knowledge.
This series of podcasts are something else!
ReplyDeleteProfessor Suatoy could have included Benoit Mandelbrote (the slightly withdrawn chaoticist who explored areas in topology and non linear geometry)and Pierre de Fermat (of course his name speaks for his accomplishments).
If you click on the math tag, you can find videos on Mandelbrote and Fermat's last theorem, among many other gems :)
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