Math Hits the Silver Screen at the University of Montana

April 17, 2007

Today, April 17, the world of mathematics will be on the silver screen, again, at the University of Montana, in Missoula.

This year's "Math Awareness Film Festival"--the eighth in the school's history--hopes to entertain and enlighten those on the fringes of mathematics. Students in the university's math department scoured video collections and film libraries to locate the math-oriented films for their film fest.

Yet the films don't "require knowing a lot of mathematics,” said University of Montana mathematics professor Nikolaus Vonessen, who organized the screenings. The most difficult thing was to get permission to show the movies. Since the mathematics department didn't have a budget for the films, it was dependent on the "generosity" of the copyright owners.

The stories with excellent use of mathematics include “Breaking Vegas,” a History Channel documentary about a team of MIT whiz kids who pit their calculating skills in games of chance: Texas Hold 'em and blackjack. While “Myths of the Developing World” is ostensibly about misperceptions about standards of living in several countries, Vonessen called it one of the most masterful demonstrations of statistics and graphics displays ever produced.

The newest film in this year's festival--it premiered early 2007--is “The Great Pi/e Debate." Vonessen rated it understandable by anyone with a little tolerance for mathematics.

The festival comprises:

“The Early History of Mathematics," a 30-minute video, produced by California Institute of Technology mathematics professor Tom Apostol, which traces landmark developments in the history of mathematics, from Babylonian calendars on clay tablets produced 5,000 years ago to the introduction of calculus in the 17th century.

“Myths About the Developing World," a 20-minute short in which Hans Rosling, a professor in Sweden's Karolinska Institute, makes important statistical data come alive using spectacular computer software.

“The Great Pi/e Debate," a 40-minute humorous piece featuring Williams College professors Colin Adams and Thomas Garrity answering a question that has puzzled us all: “Which is the better number, e or pi?”

“Donald in Mathmagic Land," a 25-minute Disney short from 1959 whcih follows Donald Duck to Mathmagic Land, where ancient Greeks outline basic mathematical principles.

“Breaking Vegas," a 90-minute documentary about MIT students who take on Las Vegas' gambling hot spots to try to defy the odds with their sophisticated card-counting scheme which, apparently, wins them pot fulls of money at blackjack.

Source: missoulian.com/articles/2007/04/15/news/mtregional/news06.txt