Definitely One For The Books

Wow, last episode. We surely have come a long way, and I honestly have mixed feelings about this one. I'm happy and quite relieved that this will be the last paper I will be writing about 'The Story of Maths,' and at the same time sad and hungry for more mathematical journeys. In other words, I'd still want to watch more of this, but with no paper requirements. *peace* :-) Well, it was really evident that this last episode was filled with too many intense and great discoveries. I think not only me, but everyone agrees that this is the best among the rest. It was indeed reserved to be the last one, since this marks the beginning of the mathematical era we are in today.

Problems truly make math alive. No doubt about that. I'm honestly not a fan of solving problems which seem to have no answers, but yes, I do agree with this. Math will stay alive and will continue burning until there are still problems left unsolved. And I must say, among all the great mathematicians I have heard and learned from this one, I consider Hilbert, Gödel, Leibniz, and Einstein to be the greatest of them all. Perelman also hits a spot.

One of the remarkable mathematicians I have noted was Poncaire, who was versatile in anything he did. I admire how strict he was with his working time.. I wish I could be like him, since I always tend to procrastinate when it comes to doing the things I need to do. Mastering that kind of self-control won't be easy. Haha. Soo.. He's known for the Chaos Theory. What he thought was a great shame of a mistake, actually became a great discovery. Way to go! He also created a conjecture which was later solved by Perelman, as I have mentioned earlier, who is still alive today but for some reasons, Marcus wasn't able to talk to, because since the day he discovered the answer to the conjecture, he left and hid himself from the eyes of the world. I kind of think that he's really gifted and that it would have been better if he was able to continue indulging himself with the greatness of mathematics. However, it is now rare to find people like him nowadays, given that most of us only care about the fame and the fortune, and a little about for the sake of knowledge, so I’d also want to salute him for what he did.

Hilbert's proposed questions were so amazing. He was like a psychic or something. But really, he was just a genius. His great mind shaped mathematics in a lot of ways. Thanks to his questions which gave life and served as a strong foundation on what we have today. He said that math speaks for itself no matter what or who you are, the passion and the ability all come from within. It gave me literally back-to-back goosebumps when he uttered "Wir müssen wissen — wir werden wissen!" because he was right. We must know, we will really know. If he was still alive today, he'd really be proud of what the mathematicians who came after him had achieved. But of course would also like to hear improvements regarding his famous 8^th, which is still left unproved. I'm quite curious and thrilled about knowing who will be the next great mathematician who can provide an answer for this... or if it's really going to be a mathematician? Who knows, maybe an ordinary person can get lucky and prove Hilbert's 8^th? I just hope it will happen very soon so we can get to witness it!

One of my favorite mathematicians is the charming Kurt Gödel. Though he was very pessimistic, mysterious, and always sad, he was known for the Incompleteness theorem and many other great things. The aforementioned theorem showed the opposite of what Hilbert proposed. He stated that there are statements about numbers which are true, but you cannot find a way to prove some of them. It was also quite notable that he was good friends with Einstein, whom I also admire so much.

I have come to appreciate mathematicians and what they do more now than ever before. Driven by their passion for patterns, numbers, and figures, they were and are able to provide us with answers. Even though there are already a lot of discoveries made, there are still a lot left to be discovered. My wildest dream is to be one of those who will unravel those discoveries, but I don't have that gift in math and I'm already hardly getting by as it is in my situation right now. Hahaha. So yup, I have already dismissed that thought.

Marcus, the host, also inspired me. He was so passionate, that for the love of math, he was up to the challenge to journey the world to re-tell the story of maths. And believe me, If I were given a gift of intelligence in math and an opportunity, with that strong passion, I also wouldn't hesitate of doing exactly what he did. I bet it's a journey of a lifetime! No matter how repetitive this may sound, it still and will holds/hold true. Math is a vital part of life. We need it. No one can deny that. And it is thanks to a lot of wonderful people that we get to apply it on our daily lives. The mathematicians have really caused a great impact to the world. Their stories will continue to live on..

While I was writing this, I couldn't seem to finish it in just one sitting. I found it really hard to think of the right things to write, because I couldn't gather up and organize my own thoughts. I wanted to include a lot of points from this episode and I wanted to write about all the things I thought about it, but I ended up writing a simple and plain paper. How ironic! I was just too consumed of all the amazing things from this episode, that I can't even get this paper right.

For my last point; each episode of this documentary was unique from the others, but what remained constant was the fun it didn't fail to offer. This is truly such a beautiful and fulfilling journey that I won't mind taking again!! *sobs* I recommend this docu-series not only for the math majors, but to everyone! We all deserve to know the history of mathematics.. The journey of maths does not stop here. One day, I'll be able to sit and hear again about the new discoveries that have been made throughout the years, and just like what every episode has done to me, it will still surely take my breath away. <3