Mathematics has maintained a surprising presence in popular media for over a century. In recent years, the movies Good Will Hunting, A Beautiful Mind, and Stand and Deliver, the stage plays Breaking the Code and Proof, the novella Flatland and the hugely successful television crime series NUMB3RS all weave mathematics prominently into their storylines. Less obvious but pivotal references to the subject appear in the blockbuster TV show Lost, the cult movie The Princess Bride, and even Tolstoy's War and Peace. In this collection of new essays, contributors consider the role of math in everything from films, baseball, crossword puzzles, fantasy role-playing games, and television shows to science fiction tales, award-winning plays and classic works of literature. Revealing the broad range of intersections between mathematics and mainstream culture, this collection demonstrates that even "mass entertainment" can have a hidden depth.

INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL MATHEMATICS Challenges readers to think creatively about mathematics and ponder its role in their own daily lives Cultural mathematics, or ethnomathematics as it is also known, studies the relationship between mathematics and culture—with the ultimate goal of contributing to an appreciation of the connection between the two. Introduction to Cultural Mathematics: With Case Studies in the Otomies and Incas integrates both theoretical and applied aspects of the topic, promotes discussions on the development of mathematical concepts, and provides a comprehensive reference for teaching and learning about multicultural mathematical practices. This illuminating book provides a nontraditional, evidence-based approach to mathematics that promotes diversity and respect for cultural heritages. Part One covers such major concepts as cultural aspects of mathematics, numeration and number symbols, kinship relations, art and decoration, games, divination, and calendars. Part Two takes those concepts and applies them to fascinating case studies of both the Otomies of Central Mexico and the Incas of South America. Throughout the book, numerous illustrations, examples, and motivational questions promote an interactive understanding of the topic. Each chapter begins with questions that encourage a cooperative, inquiry-based approach to learning and concludes with a series of exercises that allow readers to test their understanding of the presented material. Introduction to Cultural Mathematics is an ideal book for courses on cultural mathematics, the history of mathematics, and cultural studies. The book is also a valuable resource and reference for anyone interested in the connections between mathematics, culture, anthropology, and history.

Mathematics as a Cultural System discusses the relationship between mathematics and culture. The book is comprised of eight chapters discussing topics that support the concept of mathematics as a cultural system. Chapter I deals with the nature of culture and cultural systems, while Chapter 2 provides examples of cultural patterns observable in the evolution of mechanics. Chapter III treats historical episodes as a laboratory for the illustration of patterns and forces that have been operative in cultural change. Chapter IV covers hereditary stress, and Chapter V discusses consolidation as a force and process. Chapter VI talks about the singularities in the evolution of mechanics, while Chapter 7 deals with the laws governing the evolution of mathematics. Chapter VIII tackles the role and future of mathematics. The book will be of great interest to readers who are curious about how mathematics relates to culture.

This ground-breaking book analyzes contemporary education discourse in the light of curriculum politics and popular culture, using sources ranging from academic scholarship to popular magazines, music video, film and television game shows. Mathematics is used as an "extreme case," since it is a discipline so easily accepted as separable from politics, ethics or the social construction of knowledge. Appelbaum's juxtaposition of popular culture, public debate and professional practice enables an examination of the production and mediation of "common sense" distinctions between school mathematics and the world outside of schools. Terrain ordinarily displaced or excluded by traditional education literature becomes the pendulum for a new conversation which merges research and practice while discarding pre-conceived categories of understanding. The book also serves as an entertaining introduction to emerging theories in cultural studies, progressively illustrating the uses of discourse analysis for comprehending ideology, the implications of power/knowledge links, professional practice as a technology of power, and curriculum as at once commodities and cultural resources. In this way, Appelbaum effectively reveals a direction for teachers, students and researchers to cooperatively form a community attentive to the politics of curriculum and popular culture.

This book gives a remarkably fine account of the influences mathematics has exerted on the development of philosophy, the physical sciences, religion, and the arts in Western life.

A series of snapshots of the history of mathematics from ancient times to the twentieth century.

Imagine mathematics, imagine with the help of mathematics, imagine new worlds, new geometries, new forms. The new volume in the series “Imagine Math” is intended to contribute to grasping how much that is interesting and new is happening in the relationships between mathematics, imagination and culture. The present book begins with the connections between mathematics, numbers, poetry and music, with the latest opera by Italian composer Claudio Ambrosini. Literature and narrative also play an important role here. There is cinema too, with the “erotic” mathematics films by Edward Frenkel, and the new short “Arithmétique “ by Munari and Rovazzani. The section on applications of mathematics features a study of ants, as well as the refined forms and surfaces generated by algorithms used in the performances by Adrien Mondot and Claire Bardainne. Last but not least, in honour of the hundredth anniversary of his birth, a mathematical, literary and theatrical homage to Alan Turing, one of the outstanding figures of the twentieth century.