BBC FOUR celebrates mathematics and the beauty of numbers with a series
of programmes about this most precise and exacting of all intellectual
disciplines. Throughout the night, the channel will show films that offer
insights into the minds of great mathematicians, and reveal the stories
behind some of the great mathematical breakthroughs.
The BBC's celebration of mathematics has a strong Oxford flavour: Marcus
du Sautoy presents `Music of the Primes'; `Breaking the Code' draws on Andrew
Hodges' biography of Alan Turing; many of the mathematical ideas in Escher's
work were suggested by Roger Penrose; and of course Andrew Wiles was an
Oxford undergraduate.
21:05 Go Forth and Multiply
Starting a night of numbers on BBC Four, have you heard of the mathematical
system that cancels out certain numbers because they're
`unlucky' - and ignores fractions altogether? From time immemorial,
merchants in Ethiopia have used a system of multiplication that seems bizarre
- but it works.
21:10 Music of the Primes
Prime numbers - those figures which refuse to be divided neatly by anything
other than one and themselves - are fundamental to mathematics. Yet they seem
to surface entirely randomly along the number line. But are the primes truly
random - or is there some hidden pattern? Marcus DuSautoy investigates
the fascinating story of the great mathematicians who've grappled with
the problem of the primes.
Website: http://www.open2.net/musicoftheprimes/
22:10 Phi's the Limit: The Golden Ratio
What do the nautilus seashell, the Great Pyramid, and The Mona Lisa have in common? They are all feature Phi - otherwise known as The Golden Ratio.
22:15 Breaking the Code
The mathematical genius Alan Turing was responsible for cracking Germany's
Enigma Code - enabling the Allies to decipher messages sent by the Nazis to
their forces. Derek Jacobi, Prunella Scales, Richard Johnson, Amanda Root and
Harold Pinter star in this absorbing drama, revealing how one of Britain's
greatest mathematicians changed the course of the Second World War.
23:45 The Mathematical Art of MC Escher
Of all major artists of the 20th Century, none was more influenced by maths
than the Dutch artist MC Escher. Throughout his career, this superb
draughtsman produced images that explored (and exploited) mathematical ideas.
23:50 Horizon: Fermat's Last Theorem
As a 10-year old schoolboy, Andrew Wiles stumbled across Fermat's Last
Theorem - one of the world's greatest mathematical puzzles. This edition of
Horizon tells the story of Wiles' quest to solve a problem that had baffled
the greatest mathematicians for more than three centuries.
24:40 Music of the Primes
Repeat)
