Math Goes to the Movies

Chapter 21 Topics Lists

Chapter 21 Topics Lists For this chapter, we have compiled a number of annotated lists relating to mathematical topics: 1. Counting from 0 to 101 2. Math titles but no math 3. Pythagoras’s theorem and Fermat’s last theorem 4. Geometry 5. Higher dimensions 6. Topology 7. Golden ratio and Fibonacci numbers 8. Pi 9. Prime numbers and number theory 10. Chaos, fractals, and dynamical systems 11. Communicating with aliens 12. Code breaking 13. Calculus 14. Infinity 15. Paradoxes 16. Probability, gambling, and percentages 17. Famous formulas, identities, and magic squares 18. Mathematical games 21.1 Counting to 101 Zéro de Conduit (1933), One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975), Two for the Road (1967), ¡Three Amigos! (1986), Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), Five Easy Pieces (1970), Six Degrees of Separation (1993), Se7en (1995), Eight Below (2006), 8 1/2 (1963), The Nine Tailors (1974), 10 (1979), Ocean’s Eleven (1960), 12 Angry Men (1957), Friday the 13th (1980), 7 Plus Seven (1970), 15 Minutes (2001), Sixteen Candles (1984), Number Seventeen (1932), 18 Again! (1988), Nineteen and Phyllis (1920), Twenty Bucks (1993), 21 251 252 21 Topics Lists (2008), Catch 22 (1970), The Number 23 (2007), 24 (2001), 25 Degrés en Hiver (2004), Tag 26 (2003), 27 Dresses (2008), 28 Days Later . . . (2002), 29 Reasons to Run (2006), 30 Virgins and Pythagoras (1977), Kilómetro 31 (2006), Un 32 Août sur Terre (1998), Tridtsat Tri (Nenauchnaya Fantastika) (1965), Naked Gun 33 1/3 (1994), Miracle on 34th Street (1947), Kalibre 35 (2000), 36 Quai des Orfèvres (2004), To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday (1996), Quelli Della Calibro 38 (1976), The 39 Steps (1935), The 40 Year Old Virgin (2005), 41 (2007), 42nd Street (1933), Shell 43 (1916), Moon 44 (1990), Love and a .45 (1994), Code 46 (2003), 47 Morto Che Parla (1950), 48 Hrs. (1982), 49th Parallel (1941), Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958), The 51st State (2001), 52 Pick-Up (1986), 53 Dı́as de Invierno (2006), Car 54, Where Are You? (1994), 55 Days at Peking (1963), Nasser 56 (1996), Passenger 57 (1992), Grenzstation 58 (1951), Psyche 59 (1964), Gone in Sixty Seconds (2000), Highway 61 (1991), Cover-Up ’62 (2004), Rule Sixty-Three (1915), 64 Squares (2007), Estambul 65 (1965), Route 66 (1960), Don Juan 67 (1967), ’68 (1988), The Fighting 69th (1940), Seventy (2003), 71 Fragmente einer Chronologie des Zufalls (1994), 72 Gradusa Nizhe Nulya (1976), Winchester ’73 (1950), Undine 74 (1974), 75 Centilitres de Prière (1995), Segment 76 (2003), 77 Sunset Strip (1958), Seventy-8 (2004), 79 Af Stödinni (1962), Around the World in 80 Days (1956), Dancer, Texas Pop. 81 (1998), Metropolitan Police Branch 82 (1998), Gypsy 83 (2001), Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984), Airport 85 (1983), Love 86 (1986), Subject 87 (2007), Tanner ’88 (1988), Junket 89 (1970), Allemagne 90 Neuf Zéro (1991), Kidô Senshi Gundam F91 (1991), 92 in the Shade (1975), United 93 (2006), 94 Arcana Drive (1994), 95 Oktaania (1990), Number 96 (1972), 97 Ga Yau Hei Si (1997), Power 98 (1996), Convict 99 (1938), One Hundred Men and a Girl (1937), One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961). 21.2 Math Titles but No Math Proof (1991), Murder by Numbers (2002), Zorn’s Lemma (1970), The Butter fly Effect (2004), Teorema (1968), The Three Body Problem (2004). 21.3 Pythagoras’s Theorem and Fermat’s Last Theorem Also check out chapter 14 (“Pythagoras and Fermat Go to the Movies”). 30 Virgins and Pythagoras (1977): Czech heartthrob Karel Gott plays a math teacher who becomes a rock star performing the song “Thanks, Mr. Pythagoras.” Bedazzled (2000): The mathematical highlight is Elizabeth Hurley as a devil-teacher, dismissing Fermat’s last theorem as useless. 21.3 Pythagoras’s Theorem and Fermat’s Last Theorem 253 Fermat’s Last Tango (2001): Terrific musical about Fermat’s last theorem , which also features Pythagoras’s theorem as well as the mathematical superheroes Pythagoras, Euclid, Fermat, Gauss, Newton, and Wiles. Furuhata Ninzaburõ: “Murder of a Mathematician” (1995): Two mathematicians have just received the prestigious Australian Arbuckle award (for mathematicians under 40), for their work on dynamical systems in fourdimensional manifolds. When one is killed, the Columbo-like Furuhata solves the mystery: the other mathematician has killed him to take credit for the solution of Fermat’s last theorem. Help: “1.5” (2005): Hilarious scene of a mathematician trying to explain...