Math in Hollywood
A Slashdot post from May highlights a consulting firm, Hollywood Math and Science Consulting, which helps television and movie producers to incorporate math into their scripts in a true and convincing manner. They make notes in the dialogue to make sure the math is as close to correct as possible, and the characters are interacting the way mathematicians would.
It’s kind of interesting how math has become more than just everyone’s worst memory of high school lately. What with “Good Will Hunting”, “A Beautiful Mind”, and “Murder by Numbers”, we are seeing math in mainstream culture more as something that can actually generate some neat ideas. Mathemeticians are also being portrayed more; often as lunatics, but lesbians all started out as serial killers and vampires, right? I just wonder if there will be some sort of cultural shift that will allow for reactions other than cringes when math comes up in conversation.
Mathematicians Become Hollywood Consultants [Slashdot]
Math whiz fights terror with smarts [MIT News Office]
Math Professor Goes Hollywood [Harvard Crimson]
