More than Just a Number

            Mathematics has always been part of every person’s learning journey. At a young age, children are taught of the simplest form of math such as counting, identifying shapes and even reading time. As a person gets older, mathematics also gets more complicated and complex where numbers and shapes are not the only ones that are involved. New theorems, principles and concepts are now introduced. But where do these ideas came from? What is the significance of these principles made by these mathematicians?

            In the series of documentary of BBC: The Story of Maths, the first episode entitled “The Language of Universe” was able to show the root of the history of how and where math came from. As the episode went deeper in its investigation, the progress and development of math were explained and some of the greatest mathematicians, who significantly contributed ideas that improved mathematics, were also acknowledged.

            The documentary was presented by Marcus Du Sautoy who visited three of the ancient places where math was believed to have started. In Egypt, documents and artifacts were able to show that it is where counting of numbers was first applied. It was for the purpose of counting the days of when the next flooding of Nile River might happen and when lunar will occur. Since the flood may affect their crops, it is important for them to know the correct patterns of when is the best time to plant. Numbers played a very important role in their economy. Some of their other contribution was the fractional numbers, calculus and even their odd way of multiplying and dividing numbers.

            For the second destination, the ancient Babylonia, the start of the 60 base number system use for time reading, was believed to be adopted from their people. The first use of the number ‘zero’ and symmetrical shapes was also from them. Du Sautoy also visited the historical land of Greece. There, he was able to mention some of the greatest Greek mathematicians such as Archimedes and Pythagoras. The Greeks, like the Egyptians and Babylonians, have somewhat contributed a lot in the field of mathematics. They were able to develop the pythagorian theorem, a way to identify the volume of a certain shape and even the discovery of irrational numbers.

            All throughout the documentary, I observed that the basis of developing these principles was due to the demand of the people to have a systematic way in predicting and knowing the quantity, space and patterns in their surroundings. Mathematics had been a very useful tool to the early people, especially when it comes to maintaining their society’s economic status. Even with the common people, math had been part of their entertainment, just like in a board game in Greece. In music, Pythagoras was able to derive a theory by just merely hearing the musical notes.

            Once, I personally asked the significance and how math can be useful in our daily lives. I was not able to realize that almost everything in our surrounding involves calculations and measurements. The documentary has been very informative and helpful in explaining the story behind the universal language and even its earliest application that can still be observed to be very helpful to this current generation. The information given was interesting since it is new knowledge for some of the viewers and is obviously well-researched. But since too many information is needed for the history of math to be understood, it cannot be prevented that it is a bit hard to take in all the facts with only a one-time screening of the episode.

             The visual graphics was good, although the audio was a bit hard to understand. But with the clear video presentation, understanding the documentary was possible. The narrator of the documentary shows so much interest with the topic that can catch the audience attention.

            At some point, given that the narrator is very energetic, some of the scenes can be overreacting that makes it funny. It helps in reducing the seriousness of the documentary that may lead to the boredom of the audience.

            Overall, the episode one of the documentary series, BBC: The Story of Maths had been very interesting and informative. It was able to show where mathematics has all started and laid down evidence of its significant role in the life of every man. Given that math had provided our ancestors the chance of marking their existence in our history books, it can be understood that it is not just about calculations and giving hardships in a student life but can also be considered as one of the greatest discovery in the human race. Mathematics was never just a number or shapes or trivial letters in an equation, it is a big part of the development of the society into what it is today and into what it can be in the future.