This is a blog where a professor from Northeastern University's Math department posts mathematical comments on the television show "Numb3rs". To comment, write to bridger@neu.edu.
October 27, 2007
In last night's episode, safety-deposit boxes are opened by an intruder who breaks into a sealed vault. Charlie is presented with some photos of the rows of boxes, exhibiting what he describes as "acetone smears." Now acetone (basically nail-polish remover) is a solvent often used by crime labs to dissolve various dyes that change colors when exposed to certain fatty chemicals of the type found in body oils and lipstick. When an acetone mixture of these dyes is applied, the oils become visible... continued »
October 26, 2007
Mathematicians and scientists in general tend to have a kind of realist/idealist conception of the world. That is, they believe that there is an external world independent of our mind(s), and that this world is knowable via observation and logical deduction. In support of this belief they point to the fact that observation and logical deduction have produced theories which have predictive value... continued »
October 20, 2007
The big topics in last Friday's show were: the Fibonacci sequence, gematria and faith.
I discussed the first of these in the blog
Fibonacci and Golden Ratio (2/28/05) .
Fibonacci (A.K.A. Leonardo of Pisa) was an early 13th century mathematician who wrote several books on various aspects of geometry and algebra... continued »
October 15, 2007
You can view past entries to Wolfram's "The Math Behind Numb3rs". Just go to the current entry and click on the tab near the top that says other episodes.
More later
October 14, 2007
Check out the large amount of math from last Friday's episode ("Velocity") on the
Wolfram Numb3rs webpage
(You can also get to them from the
CBS TV Numb3rs site.)
I will comment (in a less technical way) on some of this in a few days: too much Red Sox action just now.
Your blogmeister
October 9, 2007
How do we float? Understanding this is crucial to understanding Charlie's computation of the body weight of the "man in the tub" from last Friday's episode... continued »
October 6, 2007
In Friday's episode there is a video of a murder victim in a bathtub. Since her face is underwater, her features appear distorted in the images; yet it is important to identify her. Charlie says that he can use the laws of reflection and diffraction, including "Snell's Law," to remove this distortion and create a clear image of the victim's features... continued »
