“Math is the real world.

It’s everywhere.”

-Charlie Epps

Waxing Poetic about Mathematics

† “Math is the real world” (Numb3rs, TV series)

† God’s Equation (Steven Spielberg’s Taken, TV series)

† “The only thing that makes me truly happy is mathematics.” (Smilla’s Sense of Snow, 1997 movie)

Prime Numbers

† Twin Prime Conjecture (The Mirror Has Two Faces, 1996 movie)

† Mr. Monk loves prime numbers (Monk, TV series)

Pi and Phi

† Pi banner (The Virgin Suicides, 1999 movie)

† Title shot from PI (1998 movie)

† Pi Tattoo (Meghann Chell), † Group photo, † Scary

† Phi Tattoo (Courtney Gibbons), † Close up

The Pythagorean Theorem

† The Scarecrow gets his brain (The Wizard of Oz, 1939 movie)

† Pythagorean Theorem (The Family Guy, TV series)

† “The Square of the Hypotenuse” (Merry Andrew, 1958 movie)

† Long side of a right triangle (You Bet Your Life, TV series, 1961)

Math Mistakes

† Mathematicians in Love (Herald Examiner cartoon, 1989)

† $0.002 misunderstanding (phone call from George Vaccaro to Verizon, 2006) † George Vaccaro blog

† Jonathan tutors roommate Skip (Class, 1983 movie)

† Order of operations mistake (KLCS Homework Hotline, 2001)

† Solving linear equation mistake (KLCS Homework Hotline, 2001)

† Bruno’s Restaurant adds tax to tip

† Lowest Common Denominator of 3/4ths (Beauty and the Geek, TV series)

† Percent increase mistake (Two-and-a-Half Men, TV series, R-rated!)

† Fibonacci series (Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium, 2007 movie)

Music

† Math Suks (Jimmy Buffet, 1999), † Complaint in Science Magazine

† That’s Mathematics (Tom Lehrer, 1993)

† New Math (Tom Lehrer, 1965)

† Lobachevsky (Tom Lehrer, 1959)

† The Square of the Hypotenuse (from Merry Andrew, sung by Danny Kaye, 1958)

For Classroom Discussion

† Mr. Monk is half the man he used to be (Monk, TV series)

† Dramatic example of exponential growth (In America, 2002 movie)

† Monty’s Dilemma (Numb3rs, TV series)

† The Quadratic Formula (Ed, TV series)

† How big is a googolplex? (Cash Cab, TV series)

† Can Lucky remove his shirt? It’s a topological problem. (Lucky, TV series)

† How many common factors? The million dollar question! (Are You Smarter Than A Fifth-Grader?, TV show)

Miscellaneous

† Pessimistic view of Infinity

† Charlie Brown shows up Peppermint Patty

† Fermat’s Last Theorem on a stamp

† Torengos tortilla chip advertisement

† Professor Art Benjamin multiplies two five digit numbers in his head

† Professor Art Benjamin performs on British television (1985)

† What is RJ Liljestrom doing in Volleyball Magazine?

† Look who else is there!