Interesting mathematical documentaries

Question

I am looking for mathematical documentaries, both technical and non-technical. They should be "interesting" in that they present either actual mathematics, mathematicians or history of mathematics. I am in charge of nourishing our departmental math library (PUCV) and I would like to add this kind of material in order to attract undergraduates toward mathematics. For this reason, I am not looking for videos of conferences or seminar talks, but rather for introductory or "wide public" material.

Here are some good examples.

"Dimensions", by Leys, Ghys & Alvarez, http://www.dimensions-math.org/ which explains actual maths and is excellent.
"Julia Robinson and Hilbert's tenth problem", https://www.vismath.eu/en/films/julia-robinson, about the life of some great mathematicians.
BBC documentary on "Fermat's last theorem" (by the way, any information about how to purchase it would be welcome, it does not seem to be possible to do it from the BBC site http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0074rxx/horizon-19951996-fermats-last-theorem. Maybe http://vimeo.com/18216532 ?).

Are there more examples? Thanks, Ricardo.

Not exactly a documentary, but appropriate for an undergrad math library: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wO61D9x6lNY — Aaron Hoffman, Jun 19 '12 at 18:57
Consult this other question http://mathoverflow.net/questions/1714/best-online-math-videos ... answers include documentaries, perhaps. — Gerald Edgar, Jun 19 '12 at 19:10
Also see this question http://mathoverflow.net/questions/77279/movies-about-mathematics-mathematicians They aren't all documentaries. — Zack Wolske, Jun 19 '12 at 21:12
@Guntram: That's the BBC documentary I mentioned in the question. I would like to know how to purchase it, do you have any information about this? Been able to watch it on youtube is of course fine, but the idea is to have it displayed in the library in order to attract potential viewers who wouldn't look for this kind of material on their own initiative. — Ricardo Menares, Jun 19 '12 at 21:40
There's some good stuff (and plenty of lousy stuff) on youtube. — Michael Hardy, Jul 12 '22 at 04:50

score 56 · Answer 1 · edited Nov 19 '20 at 08:21

56

$N$ Is a Number: A Portrait of Paul Erdős. (Official site; Wikipedia link)
Cover

edited Nov 19 '20 at 08:21

Martin Sleziak

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answered Jun 19 '12 at 19:06

Joseph O'Rourke

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Very Interesting and i finally learned the correct pronounciation of Erdos through this documentary, thanks! – Michael Kissner Jun 20 '12 at 17:57

score 27 · Answer 2 · edited Mar 17 '23 at 15:59

27

I really like this short documentary on Fermat's Last Theorem and Andrew Wiles' struggle and setbacks proving it.

edited Mar 17 '23 at 15:59

J. W. Tanner

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answered Jun 19 '12 at 19:43

Michael Kissner

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That's the BBC documentary I mentioned in the question. I would like to know how to purchase it, do you have any information about this? Been able to watch it on youtube is of course fine, but the idea is to have it displayed in the library in order to attract potential viewers who wouldn't look for this kind of material on their own initiative. – Ricardo Menares Jun 19 '12 at 21:37
Ahh sorry, missed that part. But, here's a link to a website where you can purchase it for use in classes i believe: http://www.bbcactivevideoforlearning.com/1/TitleDetails.aspx?TitleID=664 – Michael Kissner Jun 20 '12 at 07:01
I believe that is the same as the documentary aired on PBS in the US as a Nova episode called "The Proof". It doesnt seem to be available on DVD from PBS, but Amazon has it on VHS as do several other online retailers. – user4535 Jun 21 '12 at 14:14
Programs are often produced jointly for showing on Horizon on BBC and Nova on PBS. – Gerald Edgar Feb 15 '13 at 19:25
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Link is now dead. Here is an updated link: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x223gx8_bbc-horizon-1996-fermat-s-last-theorem_shortfilms – user5826 Dec 19 '14 at 05:28

score 23 · Answer 3 · edited Nov 19 '20 at 08:15

La lettre scellée du soldat Doblin about Wolfgang Döblin / Vincent Doblin.

Here the synopsis from IMDB: "When France surrendered in 1940 and German soldiers showed up in the Vosgian village of Housseras, an unknown French foot soldier burned his papers and killed himself in a farmer's barn. Four years later he was identified as "soldat Doblin, Vincent". In fact, he was none other than the mathematician Wolfgang Doeblin, son of the famous German novelist Alfred Döblin ("Berlin Alexanderplatz") who was forced to flee Nazi Germany with his family in 1933. A French citizen since October 1936, Wolfgang Doeblin carried on his research into probability theory during his military service and even during the hardships of the "Phoney War" in the winter of 1939-40. In February 1940, four months before his death at the age of 25, he sent his most important manuscripts ("About the Kolmogoroff Equation") as a "sealed envelope" to the Academy of Science in Paris, where they were kept in safe custody for 60 years. Wolfgang Doeblin's short and dramatic life story, almost forgotten, was finally brought into the limelight when the "sealed envelope" was opened in May 2000. Far ahead of their time, his groundbreaking contributions to the theory of random processes place Wolfgang Doeblin among the major innovators of probability, the "mathematics of randomness". Mathematical models for evaluation of chances and risks went on to gain major importance in numerous domains of modern science, in everyday life and especially in contemporary financial mathematics."

The German title would be: Der versiegelte Brief des Soldaten Döblin. — Jose Capco, Jul 04 '14 at 08:58

score 23 · Answer 4 · edited Nov 19 '20 at 08:18

23

"The Color of Math" (Wayback Machine) is a rather poetic documentary by Katia Eremenko that will have its premiere at the Moscow Film Festival (Wayback Machine) this upcoming Saturday, June 23, 2012. It features Cedric Villani, Anatoly Fomenko, Maxim Kontsevic, Jean-Michel Bismut, Aaditya V. Rangan (and myself).

_{(source: moscowfilmfestival.ru)}

edited Nov 19 '20 at 08:18

Martin Sleziak

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answered Jun 20 '12 at 20:09

Günter M. Ziegler

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Awesome! Will it be released internationally? – David Roberts Jun 21 '12 at 02:22
Press conference on the film: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9c7zhsK-hM (in Russian) – David Roberts Jul 11 '12 at 07:23
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Any relation between Katia Eremenko and MathOverflow user Alexandre Eremenko? – Todd Trimble Dec 16 '12 at 16:28

score 22 · Answer 5 · edited Nov 19 '20 at 08:17

Something completely different, but I'm sure a lot of people here at MO would enjoy:

Beautiful young minds British documentary about International Mathematical Olympiad 2006 with focus on the UK team.

Hard problems American documentary about the same event with focus on the US team.

Documentaries contain analysis of that year's problems (although the focus is on the competition in general, team selection and contestants - which makes it more interesting to ex-contestants than to professional mathematicians or math enthusiasts).

score 22 · Accepted Answer · edited Nov 19 '20 at 08:21

22

Leys, Ghys & Alvarez have also made a video series in a similar style about dynamical systems called "Chaos". The nine chapters are all available under a Creative Commons license.

edited Nov 19 '20 at 08:21

Martin Sleziak

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answered Feb 15 '13 at 21:49

Mark Bell

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Adrien · Answer 7 · 2012-06-20T09:33:55.327

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The soundtrack is still in progress, so it's not yet fully available but Ester Dalvit made a very interesting movie about braids and knots. At the end it will be distributed under a Creative commons license.

A trailer and parts of the movie are available here. Up to now three (old versions of) chapters are available, explaining respectively through computer generated animations:

the group structure of the braid group
"combing" of braids and handle reduction (i.e. solutions to the world problem)
Alexander and Markov theorems (i.e. the relation with knots).

edited Jun 20 '12 at 09:33

answered Jun 19 '12 at 20:56

Adrien

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The first link seems to be dead, here is a Wayback Machine snapshot. – Martin Sleziak Nov 19 '20 at 08:16
I could not find this movie, but the description does not make it sound like a documentary. – David White Jun 26 '22 at 06:02

score 17 · Answer 8 · answered Jun 20 '12 at 08:24

17

"Taking the long view: The life of Shiing-Shen Chern"

http://takingthelongviewfilm.com/

This very nice documentary was produced recently on the occasion of the Chern Centennial Conference.

answered Jun 20 '12 at 08:24

Robert Haslhofer

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The link seems to be dead, here is a Wayback Machine snapshot. – Martin Sleziak Nov 19 '20 at 08:15

score 16 · Answer 9 · answered Jun 19 '12 at 19:59

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Marcus du Sautoy's The Story of Maths is a total of four hours attempting to give an overview of the history of mathematics from ancient to modern time, spending 5-10 minutes each on the life and work of some of the most famous mathematicians. While one could quibble with some of the selections, the project is overall a fantastic production.

answered Jun 19 '12 at 19:59

Michael Joyce

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The link is broken – Leo Alonso Sep 13 '18 at 11:38

Papiro · Answer 10 · 2012-06-19T19:43:51.587

Alan Turing: Codebreaker and AI Pioneer (available here).

The code-breaking work at Bletchley Park, which helped save Britain from Nazi Germany, qualifies as one of the greatest stories of World War II, and the misunderstood genius, Alan Turing, stands at the center of this tale. Perhaps no one understands Turing's role during this period -- and his larger impact on mathematics and computing -- like B. Jack Copeland. In this lecture, Copeland contends that Turing should be celebrated as the father of artificial intelligence.

François Brunault · Answer 11 · 2022-06-27T09:19:04.617

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A short 2011 documentary on the life and mathematics of Évariste Galois, produced by the CNRS and available at the website CNRS Images:

Évariste Galois - Je n'ai pas le temps

edited Jun 27 '22 at 09:19

answered Jun 20 '12 at 07:45

François Brunault

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Does it manage to avoid 'Men of Mathematics'-style hype? – David Roberts Jun 21 '12 at 02:22
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@David : yes, the documentary is accurate and there are interviews of historians of mathematics (Caroline Ehrhardt, Jeremy Gray). – François Brunault Jun 21 '12 at 07:51

score 12 · Answer 12 · answered Jun 21 '12 at 13:38

12

"The Proof", from NOVA, presents Andrew Wiles and the story of Fermat's Last Theorem. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8269328330690408516

answered Jun 21 '12 at 13:38

Dave

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This is an excellent film. I think it may be the film Ricardo refers to as "BBC documentary on Fermat's last theorem", under a different name. – Nik Weaver Jun 01 '16 at 01:14
Link in the post seems to be dead now - but some information about the documentary can be found elsewhere. – Martin Sleziak Nov 19 '20 at 08:09

score 11 · Answer 13 · edited Nov 19 '20 at 08:12

11

Dangerous Knowledge: https://topdocumentaryfilms.com/dangerous-knowledge/

Though this one is more about mathematicians, than mathematics.

In this one-off documentary, David Malone looks at four brilliant mathematicians – Georg Cantor, Ludwig Boltzmann, Kurt Gödel and Alan Turing – whose genius has profoundly affected us, but which tragically drove them insane and eventually led to them all committing suicide.

edited Nov 19 '20 at 08:12

Martin Sleziak

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answered Jun 19 '12 at 19:32

Rafael Mrden

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Do we really want to encourage the view that mathematics is done by insane geniuses? – Steven Gubkin Jun 20 '12 at 01:19
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Except for Gödel, it is grossly inaccurate to say that they became insane, even because of their genius. For Cantor and Boltzmann, this was because of the bad acception of their works, and for Turing, because of terribly stupid law. – BS. Jun 20 '12 at 09:17
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It seems very likely that Boltzmann suffered from bipolar disorder. However, I agree with Steven that this Romantic trope of the "thin line between madness and genius" can be very tiresome indeed. – Todd Trimble Dec 16 '12 at 16:27
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Don't worry about the insanity, this connection of philosophy and math is absolutely brilliant. Thank you, it was fantastic. – Probably Sep 25 '16 at 09:01
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Saying that Gödel committed suicide doesn't comply with what I read about the circumstances of his death: he only would accept meals cooked be his wife because he feared being served poisoned food and after his wife's death didn't enough and thus died from starvation. – Manfred Weis Jul 26 '22 at 14:03

score 11 · Answer 14 · answered Jul 11 '12 at 09:07

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I vote for 100年の難問はなぜ解けたのか～天才数学者　失踪の謎 ("Why the difficult 100-year-old conjecture was proven- The mysterious disappearance of the genius mathematician"), about Grigory Perelman, Geometrization, and the proof of the Poincaré Conjecture, as the best mathematical documentary ever. It's non-technical, but it's really very well-made, and gives a good sense of what research mathematics is like, and why some people spend their lives searching for proofs of mathematical conjectures. The mathematics in it is mostly fairly solid. It inspired fashion design house Issey Miyake to design a fashion collection with Bill Thurston inspired by geometrization.

answered Jul 11 '12 at 09:07

Daniel Moskovich

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translate by google: Что такое Hatewa Вселенной? Почему на земле, что Вселенная форме? Совет ткацкий станок большой тайной для многих лет человечество было спрашивал был найден в прошлом году. :):):) – Alexander Chervov Jul 11 '12 at 18:00
Google translate is horrible at translating from Japanese... – Daniel Moskovich Jul 11 '12 at 22:11

score 10 · Answer 15 · answered Jun 19 '12 at 21:31

10

Science Lives, made by the Simons Foundation, has nine very long interviews that essentially amount to miniature documentaries about the lives of a number of 20th/21st century mathematicians and physicists.

answered Jun 19 '12 at 21:31

Jon Paprocki

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The link seems to be dead now, here is a Wayback Machine link. – Martin Sleziak Nov 19 '20 at 08:12

score 10 · Answer 16 · answered Jun 20 '12 at 11:03

10

PBS documentary A Brilliant Madness that looks at the life of Nobel-prize winning mathematician, John Nash

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chXIfhJ36Iw

answered Jun 20 '12 at 11:03

Srilakshmi

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The link seems to be dead now. – Martin Sleziak Nov 19 '20 at 08:10

score 9 · Answer 17 · edited Jun 02 '16 at 12:04

9

The man who saved Geometry is a documentary on D. Coxeter:
https://vimeo.com/120725835

edited Jun 02 '16 at 12:04

Tristan Phillips

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answered Jun 20 '12 at 11:58

jmbr

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score 9 · Answer 18 · edited Nov 19 '20 at 08:06

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The only documentary about Grigori Perelman has recently got English subtitles. (Perelman is the guy who proved the Poincare conjecture and then refused a million dollar prize.) It is for laymen, and very dramatic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ng1W2KUHI2s

edited Nov 19 '20 at 08:06

Martin Sleziak

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answered Apr 01 '14 at 17:35

mosceo

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score 8 · Answer 19 · edited Nov 19 '20 at 08:06

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"Achever l'inachevable" or "Achieving the Unachievable" features many mathematicians discussing M.C. Escher's Print Gallery, most of the material coming from the Notices article here.

edited Nov 19 '20 at 08:06

Martin Sleziak

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answered Jun 19 '12 at 20:31

Zack Wolske

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score 8 · Answer 20 · edited Nov 19 '20 at 08:04

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My friend watched this in University of Waterloo: BBC: Code Breakers Bletchley Parks lost Heroes
This is not about the Enigma Machine, which is probably the more well known example in code breaking. Instead, this is about the Lorenz cipher.
This is a relatively new movie (october 2011) that talked about how a maths student and an engineer combined to hack into Hitler's personal super-code machine, named the secret writer, and helped win WWII. Also of historical significance, the movie described the decryption machine as the first programmable computer.

edited Nov 19 '20 at 08:04

Martin Sleziak

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answered Jun 22 '12 at 15:05

Ng Yong Hao

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"Real mathematics has no effect on war," - it was always a puzzle for me what Hardy could mean by that. – Sergei Akbarov Jun 02 '16 at 16:22
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I remember watching this during my PhD! It has stuck with me ever since because it is the only BBC documentary I have ever watched where someone actually proves something on a blackboard. – ADL Mar 16 '23 at 16:10

score 7 · Answer 21 · answered Jun 20 '12 at 07:15

7

The secret life of chaos. A BBC documentary.

answered Jun 20 '12 at 07:15

Gorka

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score 7 · Answer 22 · edited Nov 19 '20 at 08:02

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A new documentary about Ramanujan just screened at the AMS meeting earlier this evening. It's called, The Genius of Srinivasa Ramanujan. It was claimed that it's already up on YouTube.

EDIT: All I was able to find on the web was a very short preview.

MORE EDIT: The full documentary went up here a few years later.

edited Nov 19 '20 at 08:02

Martin Sleziak

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answered Jan 17 '14 at 03:33

Gerry Myerson

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score 6 · Answer 23 · edited Nov 19 '20 at 08:05

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Try Satyan Devadoss's "The shape of nature."

edited Nov 19 '20 at 08:05

Martin Sleziak

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answered Jun 19 '12 at 23:54

Scott Carter

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Thanks for sharing. This looks very cool. But, I'm not sure if it's a documentary. – David White Jun 28 '22 at 04:35

score 6 · Answer 24 · edited Nov 19 '20 at 08:05

6

There is a new movie that just came out called Comment j'ai détesté les Maths (How I hated math). Cédric Villani, Jim Simons, and others are featured in the film.

edited Nov 19 '20 at 08:05

Martin Sleziak

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answered Nov 27 '13 at 04:23

Māris Ozols

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That link does not go to the movie. – Aug 19 '15 at 00:46
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More popular translation of the title is "How I Came to Hate Math" – Alexey Ustinov Jul 10 '17 at 10:47

score 6 · Answer 25 · answered Jan 18 '14 at 03:53

6

A very nice interview of László Lovász can be found here: https://www.simonsfoundation.org/science_lives_video/laszlo-lovasz/ A very wide variety of topics are covered (see the 'playlist' at the right hand side)!

answered Jan 18 '14 at 03:53

Daniel Soltész

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score 6 · Answer 26 · answered Dec 22 '16 at 03:50

In February of this year (2016), the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation sponsored a workshop at the Fields Institute about the development of a new 'language' to represent mathematics in computerized/formalized form.

The participants were 40 mathematicians, logicians, experts in computational mathematics and formalized mathematics.

Because bringing the approximate 100 million pages of peer-reviewed research mathematics into a modern, computer-understandable form will be a long term global effort (https://arxiv.org/abs/1404.1905), the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation also sponsored the making of a documentary-style video about the workshop; including participant interviews (e.g. with Ingrid Daubechies, Yuri Matiyasevich, Harvey Friedman, Stanislav Smirnov, Jeremy Avigad, Georges Gonthier) to foster a more global discussion on the subjects involved in developing such a new 'language'.

Topics such as: what is mathematics, why we need proofs, how to get more people involved in formal mathematics, what is the mechanized future of mathematics and others are discussed.

I was one of the workshop organizers, and we just finished editing a 90 min video ("Towards a Semantic Language of Mathematics") and it is now on Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psSyM1zp82k

Thank you, I much enjoyed the recording and I will reference your workshop in my upcoming dissertation on math information retrieval. As a token of my gratitude, I posted a table of contents for people who would like to get a quick overview of the recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psSyM1zp82k&lc=Ugw5AjmmDrEHy0ldI7t4AaABAg — Witiko, Oct 02 '21 at 16:43

score 6 · Answer 27 · edited Jun 15 '20 at 07:27

The LMS commissioned a film "Thinking Space".

Through explorations of their various thought processes, the film portrays mathematicians who are grappling with advanced mathematical ideas. We are presented with the concepts of imagination, intuition, and wonder, as well as rigorous mathematical deduction.

The film features Kevin Buzzard, Peter Donnelly, Tim Gowers, Martin Hairer, Roger Penrose, Caroline Series, Richard Thomas, Reidun Twarock, and Karen Vogtmann.

There are some excerpts on the LMS website: Frames of mind. However, you can also find the whole film on vimeo: Thinking Space by Heidi Morstang (posted by the director of the film).

score 6 · Answer 28 · answered Oct 13 '20 at 17:14

6

Recently a documentary on Maryam Mirzakhani was released called Secrets of the Surface: The Mathematical Vision of Maryam Mirzakhani. It both described her personal life/journey through mathematics, as well as an introduction to part of her research aimed at a general audience.

answered Oct 13 '20 at 17:14

Mark Schultz-Wu

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http://www.zalafilms.com/secrets/index.html#preview – C.F.G Oct 25 '20 at 09:53

score 5 · Answer 29 · edited Nov 19 '20 at 08:01

5

Nova's Mathematical Mystery Tour is a really nice one and is on youtube.

httpS://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbOyXO-JFX8&feature=related

RAMANUJAN: Letters from an Indian Clerk again available on youtube.

httpS://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OARGZ1xXCxs

This question was also asked on math stackexchange sometime back and here is the link to it.

edited Nov 19 '20 at 08:01

Martin Sleziak

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answered Jun 20 '12 at 01:07

Normally, NOVA completely drops the ball when pretending to have an episode on mathematics. It interviews mathematicians, but never explains to viewers what they are talking about. – Daniel Asimov Mar 17 '23 at 22:52

score 5 · Answer 30 · answered Jun 23 '12 at 08:33

The Geometry Center (formerly of UMN, now apparently defunct) many years ago produced "Not Knot" (about hyperbolic space) and "Outside In" (about sphere eversion). There is apparently a more recent third one "The Shape of Space" I'm not familiar with. Apparently you can still order them here, although copies are now easily found on YouTube.

score 5 · Answer 31 · edited Nov 19 '20 at 08:03

5

https://www.math.ru/lib/files/pdf/mehmat/mm3.pdf

Interviews and memories by leading Moscow mathematicians I.R. Shafarevich, V.I. Arnold, S.P. Novikov, B.A. Sevostyanov, A.N. Shiryaev, V.V. Golubev (major-general and dean of mexmat MSU at (1933-1935 и 1944-1952)). Some of them are quite free-spoken.

PS

Sorry it is in Russian.

edited Nov 19 '20 at 08:03

Martin Sleziak

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answered Jul 25 '12 at 19:57

Alexander Chervov

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score 5 · Answer 32 · answered Jan 16 '14 at 20:11

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THE THINGS YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND, 2010, Peter and Petra Lataster Mathematician Hendrik Lenstra has no car, no computer and no television. But he is the proud owner of numerous editions of Homer’s Odyssey. Directors Petra & Peter Lataster draw a portrait of Lenstra, a mathematician who thinks on the highest level. And also in daily life he is not interested in the superfluous and the fashionable. http://www.latasterfilms.nl/en/films/the-things-you-dont-understand/

answered Jan 16 '14 at 20:11

Maria Campana

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That's not that surprising to me. I have no car (and no driver's license) and no television either, and if MO didn't exist, I'm not sure I'd even have a computer. And I collect Dance Music CDs from the 90's as well as editions of "The girl who played with fire" (or should I say "Flickan som lekte med elden"?) in different languages :-) – Sylvain JULIEN Jan 16 '14 at 20:31
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The page you linked to has an error on it and the film is not available there. – KConrad Apr 08 '15 at 15:03

Sebastien Palcoux · Answer 33 · 2014-07-15T14:08:02.333

5

Au Bonheur des Maths (it's in French but you can put English subtitles)

Several short interviews of mathematicians around the IHES:
Alain Connes, Misha Gromov, Jean-Pierre Bourguignon, Cédric Villani, Sir Michael Atiyah, Giancarlo Servetto, Carolina Canales Gonzalez, Nicole El Karoui, Don Zagier.

enter image description here

edited Jul 15 '14 at 14:08

answered Jul 15 '14 at 13:57

Sebastien Palcoux

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score 5 · Answer 34 · answered Jul 02 '16 at 22:59

5

Something new every day is a great short documentary about Ron Graham by George Csicsery.

answered Jul 02 '16 at 22:59

Santi Spadaro

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score 4 · Answer 35 · answered Jun 20 '12 at 06:58

4

http://www.cosmolearning.com/mathematics/documentaries/

answered Jun 20 '12 at 06:58

Sniper Clown

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score 4 · Answer 36 · answered Jul 02 '14 at 11:55

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This documentary on John Von Neumann produced by the MAA in 1966 is pretty good. Has interviews with Paul Halmos, Stanislaw Ulam, Eugene Wigner, among others.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTS9O0CoVng

answered Jul 02 '14 at 11:55

quachelsey

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The link no longer works – David White Jan 29 '24 at 00:00

score 4 · Answer 37 · edited Nov 19 '20 at 07:54

The youtube channel of Simons Foundation can be considered as a series of one-shot "documentaries" about puzzles and (auto)biographies of mathematicians: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZVjCmJOQRpAQ_EruAIPqXg

There is also a (rare?) documentary on the life of Grothendieck in french, I saw a trailer here: https://youtu.be/UO5KgnTY_fU

Unfortunately I haven't seen the movie but apparently they are working on an english translation of the movie as well.

score 4 · Answer 38 · edited Jul 28 '14 at 10:07

4

Henri Cartan, une vie de mathématicien.

edited Jul 28 '14 at 10:07

Sebastien Palcoux

25,922

answered Jul 15 '14 at 13:37

score 4 · Answer 39 · answered Apr 07 '15 at 20:35

4

I enjoyed watching "Great thinkers, great theorems" by William Dunham.

It is a great overview of the history, and still manages to get down to actually proving a lot of non-trivial stuff.

answered Apr 07 '15 at 20:35

Per Alexandersson

15,598

score 4 · Answer 40 · answered Jun 01 '16 at 00:36

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"With striking images, some mathematical humor, a little drama, and a nice puzzle, this is again a very charming movie from director Ekaterina Eremenko." - John Rognes, Chairman of the Abel Committee

Trailer is here

answered Jun 01 '16 at 00:36

Alexey Ustinov

11,875

score 3 · Answer 41 · edited Nov 19 '20 at 07:53

3

The Joy of Stats by Hans Rosling.

edited Nov 19 '20 at 07:53

Martin Sleziak

4,608

answered Jun 21 '12 at 12:03

user24614

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I don't think this is a documentary – David White Jun 28 '22 at 04:36

score 3 · Answer 42 · edited Nov 19 '20 at 07:53

3

Marcus du Sautoy has a number of BBC math specials and short series dealing with concepts of zero, infinity, measurement. Some are done under the Horizon umbrella.

edited Nov 19 '20 at 07:53

Martin Sleziak

4,608

answered Jun 21 '12 at 12:12

user24614

1

score 3 · Answer 43 · answered Mar 26 '13 at 22:40

3

"Between The Folds" is another beautiful documentary about Math. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tE4lqYzS2m0

answered Mar 26 '13 at 22:40

Artur Zielazny

1

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The youtube link in the answer seems to be dead. Here is a Wikipedia link about this documentary: Between the Folds. – Martin Sleziak Nov 19 '20 at 07:54

score 3 · Answer 44 · answered Apr 06 '15 at 05:50

3

Eugene B. Dynkin Collection of Mathematics Interviews

answered Apr 06 '15 at 05:50

Alexey Ustinov

11,875

score 3 · Answer 45 · edited Nov 19 '20 at 07:55

3

"Counting From Infinity" is a recent (nontechnical) documentary about Yitang Zhang's work on bounded gaps between primes: http://www.zalafilms.com/films/countingindex.html

Some description of the documentary is also included in the New Yorker profile about Zhang: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/02/02/pursuit-beauty

edited Nov 19 '20 at 07:55

Martin Sleziak

4,608

answered Apr 07 '15 at 19:32

Stopple

10,820

score 3 · Answer 46 · answered Sep 10 '20 at 14:07

3

Apparently nobody mentioned Serre's "How to write mathematics badly".

answered Sep 10 '20 at 14:07

abx

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Is it a documentary or a lecture? – David Roberts Sep 10 '20 at 23:39
Oh, you are probably right. Though the difference is not so clear to me, this is a documentary on how to write mathematics... – abx Sep 11 '20 at 07:44

score 2 · Answer 47 · edited Nov 19 '20 at 07:59

2

Well, you may want to check out some short documentaries about beautiful minds. For example, my mathematical idol Kurt Gödel, here is the clip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2KP1vWkQ6Y There can be many more examples, just to give the students a taste of what it is like to be a mathematician.

edited Nov 19 '20 at 07:59

Martin Sleziak

4,608

answered Jun 22 '12 at 15:27

Jing Zhang

3,138

This does not sound like a documentary. It looks more like a lecture about Godel. – David White Jun 28 '22 at 04:44

score 2 · Answer 48 · answered Jul 11 '12 at 06:57

2

There is a document "Banach spaces" about S.Banach and other polish mathematicians from Lviv ( S.Ulam, J.P.Schauder)

Unfortunetelly I don't know about any translation to english.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJgl_Z9Yz1Q

answered Jul 11 '12 at 06:57

Maciej Starostka

118

score 2 · Answer 49 · answered Feb 15 '13 at 17:01

2

The best I have ever seen is "The Proof". It is a Nova documentary on Sir Andrew Wiles and his proof of Fermat's last theorem. I can always find something interesting to talk about with my students who range from algebra one level to calculus.

answered Feb 15 '13 at 17:01

keith hubert

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1

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Already mentioned in this answer: http://mathoverflow.net/questions/100033/interesting-mathematical-documentaries/100244#100244 – Zev Chonoles Feb 15 '13 at 18:31

score 2 · Answer 50 · answered Jun 04 '13 at 06:16

2

You can find a selection of open source maths films on the IMAGINARY platform: http://www.imaginary.org/films

Many of the already mentioned films are there (like Dimensions, Chaos, Braids, etc.), but also some really good new ones, like "The Future of Glaciers", etc. The platform is also open for contributions from outside, so you can come back and find a growing repository of free licensed maths films.

answered Jun 04 '13 at 06:16

bedouine

1

Woah, this is really cool. – Dec 20 '16 at 02:58

score 2 · Answer 51 · answered Jul 02 '14 at 13:24

Although not a video series, the podcast series Relatively Prime by Samuel Hansen is a superbly produced series of 8 podcasts including interviews with eminent mathematicians and covering a wide range of topics. Perfect listening material for long commutes I've found.

score 2 · Answer 52 · answered Apr 08 '15 at 13:07

2

Genius and villains: Kolmogorov (Russian)

answered Apr 08 '15 at 13:07

Alexey Ustinov

11,875

score 2 · Answer 53 · answered Apr 19 '15 at 04:28

2

PBS NOVA from April 15 2015 The Great Math Mystery

answered Apr 19 '15 at 04:28

Nick Basye

1

This does not sound like a documentary – David White Jun 28 '22 at 04:41

score 2 · Answer 54 · answered Aug 19 '15 at 07:55

I can highly recommend MESH - A Journey Through Discrete Geometry by Beau Janzen and Konrad Polthier. Old and new are nicely linked together and the computer animations are great. The film won many prizes.

Then there is a feature about Yuri Manin by Agnes Handwerk and Harrie Willems called Late Style.

C.F.G · Answer 55 · 2022-07-25T05:01:42.487

2

Pits, Peaks, and Passes: A Lecture on Critical Point Theory about Marston Morse.

edited Jul 25 '22 at 05:01

answered Sep 10 '20 at 13:58

C.F.G

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score 1 · Answer 56 · edited Nov 19 '20 at 07:56

1

Here is a short film on Paul Halmos.

The 44-minute film contains a rare interview with Paul Halmos by Peter Renz, revealing his thoughts on mathematics, and how to teach it and write about it. Five bonus features include comments by mathematicians Robert Bekes, David Eisenbud, Jean Pedersen, and Donald Sarason about their experiences with Halmos. Interviews with Halmos by Don Albers and Halmos's own writings are included as PDF documents

edited Nov 19 '20 at 07:56

Martin Sleziak

4,608

answered Jun 20 '12 at 11:43

C.S.

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1

This is just a link to the Wikipedia page? – Steve D Mar 27 '13 at 02:27
1

@Steve D: The [home page of the film] (http://zalafilms.com/films/halmospsynopsis.html), has an order form for ordering a copy; you get a $10 discount for AMA membership. – Danny Ruberman Jan 17 '14 at 13:54

score 1 · Answer 57 · answered Jun 20 '12 at 20:09

NOVA's Hunting the Hidden Dimension

Mysteriously beautiful fractals are shaking up the world of mathematics and deepening our understanding of nature.

Program Description

You may not know it, but fractals, like the air you breathe, are all around you. Their irregular, repeating shapes are found in cloud formations and tree limbs, in stalks of broccoli and craggy mountain ranges, even in the rhythm of the human heart. In this film, NOVA takes viewers on a fascinating quest with a group of maverick mathematicians determined to decipher the rules that govern fractal geometry.

For centuries, fractal-like irregular shapes were considered beyond the boundaries of mathematical understanding. Now, mathematicians have finally begun mapping this uncharted territory. Their remarkable findings are deepening our understanding of nature and stimulating a new wave of scientific, medical, and artistic innovation stretching from the ecology of the rain forest to fashion design. The documentary highlights a host of filmmakers, fashion designers, physicians, and researchers who are using fractal geometry to innovate and inspire. Aired August 24, 2011 on PBS

See the following site for program information and to order the DVD: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/physics/hunting-hidden-dimension.html

This does not sound like a documentary – David White Jun 28 '22 at 04:40 — David White, Jun 28 '22 at 04:40

score 1 · Answer 58 · edited Nov 19 '20 at 07:59

1

Leon Henkin, an expert on mathematical logic and induction, made a movie on Mathematical Induction

edited Nov 19 '20 at 07:59

Martin Sleziak

4,608

answered Jan 16 '14 at 20:14

Keshav Srinivasan

4,529

score 1 · Answer 59 · answered Oct 14 '16 at 06:03

1

Two good ones that were recently uploaded to youtube:

Paul Halmos (teaching): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KWaBikjnYw

Yitang Zhang (bounded gaps between primes): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIIyKWxGhEA

answered Oct 14 '16 at 06:03

Forever Mozart

955

both were recently removed due to copyright. major bummer – Forever Mozart May 06 '17 at 07:15
Are they documentaries? – C.F.G Nov 19 '20 at 08:04

score 1 · Answer 60 · edited Oct 13 '20 at 17:05

1

There's Mathematics Illuminated, see https://www.learner.org/series/mathematics-illuminated/ These were intended as professional development for teachers.

edited Oct 13 '20 at 17:05

მამუკა ჯიბლაძე

17,468

answered Oct 18 '16 at 19:35

Fernando

151

score 1 · Answer 61 · answered Aug 22 '17 at 10:00

1

The mathematics of love, by Hanna Fry

https://www.ted.com/talks/hannah_fry_the_mathematics_of_love/transcript#t-21495

answered Aug 22 '17 at 10:00

Hebert

1

José Hdz. Stgo. · Answer 62 · 2022-07-21T02:46:01.800

I recently knew of the film "Barry Mazur and the Infinite Cheese of Knowledge".

According to what we read in the website that was set up for the promotion of the film: "[this is] a compelling and intimate portrait of one of the world's most influential mathematicians, Barry Mazur... The film tells his surprising story and [captures] both his wit and profound approach to life, love and learning. From his early life as an ultra orthodox Jew in the Bronx during World War II, to his present status as one of the world's most admired and influential mathematical thinkers, this film tells the story of a man navigating the worlds of religion and science, fact and philosophy, love and loss. Surprising, witty, and often moving, this portrait of a polymath invites you to rejoice in curiosity in all its forms because ... we are all nibbling on the Infinite Cheese of Knowledge."

Additional information about the film:

Duration: 35 min

Filmed and directed by: Oliver Ralfe

Producers: Michael Harris, Kobi Kremnitzer

Associate producers: James Bluemel, Minhyong Kim

After clicking on the link in the first paragraph - the link https://vimeo.com/726075229/420e6cbe25 - I get the message: "This video is private". (Maybe that's intentional...?) — Martin Sleziak, Jul 25 '22 at 06:01
@MartinSleziak: I entered this answer after watching the film in the given link... I suppose the owner of the video changed the corresponding permissions in the interim. It sort of saddens me to notice that the MO community didn't take too seriously these paragraphs of mine about this film. — José Hdz. Stgo., Jul 27 '22 at 04:18

Interesting mathematical documentaries

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