• By
  • Carl Bialik

Can math serve as popular entertainment? That was a question contemplated by a panel of mathematical advisors to Hollywood at an annual mathematics meeting in San Diego earlier this week.


The cast of “Numb3rs.” (CBS photo)

“I think you could make a movie about a mathematician who is not psychotic or schizophrenic,” said Ken Keeler, a PhD in applied math who has written for “Futurama” and “The Simpsons.” John Nash, the Nobel Prize winner who was played by Russell Crowe in “A Beautiful Mind,” is the latter, and his mental illness served as the bulk of that film’s drama, rather than his mathematical innovations.

Numb3rs,” the popular CBS show about a mathematician who helps federal investigators crack cases, would appear to be an exception. But Mr. Keeler notes that even Charlie Eppes, the hero of the show played by David Krumholtz, “is not normal.”

Eric Weisstein of the math-software company Wolfram Research Inc., who consults with the show, agrees about Mr. Eppes: “He’s a mathematical superhero.” But he says that even this fictionalized version of math serves a goal: Educators clamor to meet Mr. Krumholtz. Then again, he acknowledges that might not reflect on his educational utility, but on his fame. Mr. Keeler agreed: “A lot of people who want to meet Russell Crowe don’t want to meet John Nash.”

With Hollywood writers on strike, Alice Silverberg of the University of California, Irvine, who has consulted for several shows, had a timely suggestion: a mathematician not as conceived by fiction writers, but rather a real-life personality who could engage the public in math in ways fictional portrayers can’t. “We had Carl Sagan in astronomy,” she said, referencing the popularizer of physical sciences who, before he died in 1996, became famous for presenting a TV program on the cosmos. “Why couldn’t we have something similar in mathematics, on television?”

Prof. Silverberg doesn’t think “Numb3rs” and its ilk fits the bill. She says that the majority of writers who aren’t mathematicians but occasionally want a numerical plot engage in what she calls “Google math.” They search for a concept that could fit into their desired plot. “Sometimes I say, there is really no mathematics here, but I will give you something that would make me cringe a little bit less,” she said.

Mr. Weisstein pointed out that “Numb3rs” has won several awards for its role in mathematical education — including one named after Mr. Sagan. “If Hollywood portrayed math as it is, the show wouldn’t last four seasons,” he added. “It doesn’t have to be completely rigorous and correct. It can still serve a useful social purpose.”

Even if the numbers guys don’t yet have veto power over innumerate plotlines, plenty of attendees at the math gathering would gladly go to Tinseltown. Mr. Keeler at one point wondered if he’d wasted his mathematical training by using it to write for TV. He asked for a show of hands: How many people think he’s a sellout? None of the several hundred people raised their hands, despite his urging. Then Prof. Silverberg asked, “How many people wish you had their jobs, rather than being mathematicians?” A few dozen people raised their hands.