How is math used on TV shows. (like Numbers, Heroes, etc...?

Question

Need help with my math project, thats due in a few weeks

Answer 1

Not knowing the details of the project makes this question a little more difficult to answer (it'd be helpful to know if you have to incorporate more than one show, the medium of presentation -- poster, paper, powerpoint, etc.). If the project is totally open, I'd stick to the show Numbers, given that the basic premise of the show is using numbers/math to solve crimes.

If you've never seen the show, I suggest you watch a few episodes because the concepts can get pretty complicated. To summarize though, the show has two protagonists: Don, the FBI agent, and his genius mathematician/professor brother, Charlie. There's always a crime committed at the beginning of the show, and the characters generally spend the remainder trying to solve the first crime and prevent any subsequent crimes. Don and his FBI team do the investigating, collect evidence and try to solve things the 'old-fashioned' way. Charlie, on the other hand, looks at the hidden patterns and numbers of the crime and uses abstract mathematical theories (one of his favorites is Chaos Theory) to extrapolate or predict the next move of the criminal or solve the crime. For Charlie, the numbers don't lie, and they allow him to see things that other people can't.

If you're looking at Heroes as well, I think they tend to focus a little more on science, but obviously, science iinvolves math and vice versa. Their quest is more geared toward a chemical and biological explanation of the powers of the heroes.

Another good example of math and science on TV is the show CSI, where crime scene investigators examine and test evidence (usually with chemicals) to solve crimes that would otherwise go unpunished.

Either way, the use of math on TV brings it down to the level of the average person. The shows take abstract concepts that a normal person may not have ever heard of, much less comprehend, and make them understandable and applicable. With today's emphasis on empiricism (theories based on evidence and scientific methods), the shows provide a nice balance between reality and fiction.

Answer 2

I watch "Numbers" every week and the episode on the kid that got stabbed at the track opened a whole workable system for the horses. Trouble is, it's a lot of work, so scratch that. But a lot of Charlie's systems open up new ways of thinking for those so inclined.