NUMB3RS

A few days ago, I had a post about tit-for-tat strategy in game theory. I included a video clip from the TV show NUMB3RS. It is an intriguing TV show about a math genius college professor who helps his FBI agent brother solve complex cases using math. As a former math teacher (I taught math part-time for a couple years at a community college in Orlando), I love what I've seen of the show.

It looks like I'm not the only fan:

As some of you may have guessed from the video in my Monty Hall Dilemma post, I'm a fan of the TV show Numb3rs. If you're not familiar with the show, CBS has a description of the basics of the show, which is already in its 3rd season.

To get a feel for the show, CBS has posted several clips of Charlie Eppes (David Krumholtz) explaining various concepts over on YouTube:

Tracking A Sex Offender Killer
A Big Problem
Math and Shoeless Joe
Betting On The Horses
A Discussion of Randomness

There are many clips posted by fans. My favorites include the previously-mentioned Monty Hall Dilemma clip, as well as Game Theory. Shuzak's Numb3rs clip collection is also very impressive.

The math employed in the show is legitimate, with a team of technical advisors from Caltech providing the research for the show.

Naturally, several site have sprung up to help people better understand the math needed in the show. CBS itself took the first step, and arranged a partnership with Texas Instruments to develop the We All Use Math Everyday website, which includes activities for students that are related to each episode. The name of the site, of course, comes from a quote from the show opening.

Naturally, fans have sites delving into the math of the show, as well. At redhawke, their Numb3rs section is arranged by both episodes and mathematical concepts. Over at Northeastern University, their mathematics department has an entire blog devoted solely to Numb3rs. Those who want to learn about the various concepts can find themselves getting lost in these sites for hours.

I haven't seen many episodes yet, but hope to rent some of the previous seasons soon.