NOVA: The Great Math Mystery
2015•NR•54m•7.8•Released
DocumentaryHistoryMystery
NOVA leads viewers on a mathematical mystery tour -- a provocative exploration of math's astonishing power across the centuries. We discover math's signature in the swirl of a nautilus shell, the whirlpool of a galaxy and the spiral in the center of a sunflower. Math was essential to everything from the first wireless radio transmissions to the prediction and discovery of the Higgs boson and the successful landing of rovers on Mars. But where does math get its power? Astrophysicist and writer Mario Livio, along with a colorful cast of mathematicians, physicists and engineers, follows math from Pythagoras to Einstein and beyond, all leading to the ultimate riddle: Is math an invention or a discovery? Humankind's clever trick or the language of the universe?
Director
Richard Reisz
Writer
Dan McCabe
Languages
English
Studio
GBH
Cast
Jay O. Sanders
Narrator (voice)
Glenn Kalison
Actor
Max Tegmark
Self
Esperanza Spalding
Self
Sylvester James Gates
Self
Adam Steltzner
Self
Janna Levin
Self
Simon Schaffer
Self
Savas Dimopoulos
Self
Roger Penrose
Self
Stephen Wolfram
Self
Production
Company
GBH
Producer
Dan McCabe
Producer
Richard Reisz
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