25 Math Documentaries To Make Students Love Math

Usually, students see math as a boring and unrealistic subject. Math documentaries are one such thing that builds up the interest among various students by providing useful information along with true and interesting facts. 

Students often try their best to avoid math as they do not know its logic. Even if some students try to understand it, they end with the same experience. But if they get appealing visuals, they can easily relate to the concepts, understand them better, and even enjoy learning.

A Mathematicians documentary shows the lives of great mathematicians and different daily life math applications used by them, which also develops curiosity among students and encourages them to learn math.

25 Best Math Documentaries-

Below are some engaging mathematics documentaries that will surely connect students to math.  

1. NOVA:

The Great Math Mystery is a mathematical mystery documentary that takes viewers on tour to discover whether math is an invention or discovery.

Did humans invent it, or Is it a language of the universe? It discusses the various aspects of math and explores math’s amazing facts and powers, who the inventors are, and many other things. 

This great 53-minute documentary was initially aired on 15 April 2015, getting an 8.7 out of 10 rating on IMDb and a 5 out of 5 audience rating. The power of electromagnetic waves was used in the first radio transmissions to predict discoveries of high bosons till the successful landing of rovers on Mars.

This documentary takes interesting turns, making every aspect of it very factual.

2. I Want To Be a Mathematician:

An Automathography in Three Parts (Maa Spectrum Series): this mathematician documentary is an autobiography of the author Paul R. Halmos based on his life as a mathematician. It deals with the logic behind math and the works of a mathematician.

This math documentary helps expose students to the life of a mathematician.

It makes them understand how this great mathematician was able to research his very famous ergodic theory and measure theory.

The story is based on experiences and self-assessments involving honest facts without exaggeration.

This documentary was released on 25 February 2009 and is now available on the Amazon website.

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This story has inspired many of the author’s colleagues and got a 9 out of 10 rating on IMDb with 4.2 out of 5 on Amazon.

3. Fractals – Hunting The Hidden Dimension:

This documentary introduces a new branch of math called fractals to the viewers, which is present around nature in repeating patterns.

These irregular patterns of shapes are fascinating geometric configurations that can be applied in various fields of science, medicine, and arts.

They are found in the air we breathe, tree limbs, cloud formations, and even in the rhythms of our heartbeat.

This interesting math documentary movie was released on 28 October 2008 with an IMDb rating of 7.8 out of 10 and a 4.5 out of 5. 

4. Between The Folds:

It is a narrative description of 10 fine artists and theoretical scientists who had neglected their careers and devoted their lives to modern origami.

This inspiring documentary was released on 31 May 2008 with a 7.5 out of 10 IMDb rating and a 5 out of 5 audience rating.

5. Secrets Of The Surface:

The Mathematical Vision of Maryam Mirzakhani – this film revolved around the first female mathematician, Maryam Mirzakhani, an Iranian immigrant to the United States of America who became very successful in her work, for which she was honored with the highest award, the Fields Medal in 2014.

This story is about her contribution to mathematics, her great achievements, and her inspiration to her colleagues and all the females who want to pursue math in their careers.  

This movie was released in 2020 with an 8.6 out of 10 IMDb rating and a 3.5 out of 5 audience rating.

6. A Brief History Of Time:

This math documentary revolves around the theoretical cosmography of the astrophysicist Stephen Hawking who wrote a book for readers without prior knowledge of Physics.

He discussed two major quantum and general relativity theories used to describe the universe and his two major cosmologies, the Big Bang and the Black Hole.

This documentary discusses the great achievements of Stephen Hawkings through the medium of the voice of his colleagues on which he left a great impact.

This 1 hour and 23 minutes documentary was released in 1991 with an IMD b rating of 7.3 out of 10 and an audience rating of 4.5 out of 5.

7. A Brilliant Madness:

This documentary revolves around a Nobel prize-winning mathematician and economist John Nash who revolutionized the world of Economics with his thesis on game theory.

He is a powerful combination of a genius mind and madness, which became twisted with each other.

This documentary was first released on 28 April 2022 with an IMDb rating of 7.6 out of 10 and an audience rating of 4.5 out of 5.

8. Taking The Long View:

Based on the Life of Shiing-Shen Chern – this mathematician documentary portrays Shiing-Shen Chern as a man who is one of the fathers of differential geometry and was a co-founder of the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute in 1981 after creating a world-renowned center for geometry in Berkeley.

With his great Chinese classical philosophical ideas, he bridged the gap between China and the West and devoted his whole life to creating mathematical ideologies. It was released in 2016 with an 8 out of 10 IMDb rating.

9. The Proof:

It is one of such math documentaries which illustrates the world of mathematics and mathematicians most realistically.

It also shows the relevance of mathematician Andrew Wiles who claimed to prove Fermat’s Last Theorem after giving it seven years of his life, 350 years ago.

This film was released in 1997 with an IMDb rating of 8.5 out of 10.

10. The Code:

This series is bifurcated into three parts, i.e., the shapes, numbers, and patterns that dominate our globe. Marcus Du Sautoy wrote this documentary to cover different branches of mathematics.

This series involves various online challenges and treasure hunts as a medium to engage the audience in the world of mathematics. 

It was released on 27 July 2011 with three episodes involving the three stages of the treasure hunt- the codebreakers, the ultimate change, and the finale.

11. The Secret Rules Of Modern Living – The Algorithms:

Professor Marcus du Sautoy introduces the modern world with computer algorithms that use search engines, travel plans, and doctors to save life as tools to remain hidden.

The professor unfolds the mystery of computer algorithms by showing us their work and achievements. 

The 58 minutes documentary was released in 2015 with an IMDb rating of 7.4 and an audience rating of 4.5. 

12. The Story Of Math: 

This British television series by Marcus du Sautoy includes four major topics, The Language of the Universe; The Genius of the East; The Frontiers of Space; and To Infinity and Beyond, covering the history of math with major topics such as the invention of zero, Riemann hypothesis which remained unproven and a 150-year-old math problem whose solution was demanded by the Clay Mathematics Institute for $1000000 price.

The documentary was released on 6 October 2008 with a 7.9 out of 10 IMDb rating and a 5 out of 5 audience rating. 

13. The Story of 1:

This documentary illustrates the history of numbers, the early evidence of counting, and their use in arithmetic calculation, out of which the major part revolves around the number ‘1’.

It discusses the development of large numbers and their use by Romans and Egyptians, the decline of roman numerals in the west, and the development of algebra and binary systems.

The documentary was released on 28 September 2005 with a 7.5 out of 10 IMDb rating.

14. The Colors Of Infinity:

It is an unusual math documentary about the discovery of the Mandelbrot set or M-set, which is the major part of the evolutionary fractal geometry of the universe.

This show relates the science of M-set with nature and finds out the complex geometric shape of the M-set using a very simple equation of computers and graphics.

This show was initially released in 1995 with a 7 out of 10 IMDb rating.

15. Get The Math:

It is a television program and the best math movie for middle school.

This show introduces the algebraic world to middle school students and enhances their thinking skills and ability to solve real-life problems.

It is a very popular show among kids as it challenges their ability to solve algebraic problems with critical thinking.

16. A Beautiful Mind:

It is a biographical documentary written by Akiva Goldsman of Nobel prize laureate in Economics John Nash, a brilliant mathematician.

The film depicts the mathematician’s literal representation, evolution, and contributions to math. The story also shows the major turn of his life when he takes up an assignment by William Parcher.

The story was released on 13 December 2001 with an 8.2 out of 10 IMDb rating.

17. N is a Number – A Portrait of Paul Erdös:

This film is a biographical documentary of  Paul Erdös, a great mathematician.

This story covers his personal life, unusual career, some pun, an interesting narrative story about his ups and downs, and his major invention, the Erdös number.

This film was released in 1993 with a 7.5 out of 10 IMDb rating.

18. The Man Who Knew Infinity:

This biographical documentary is about an Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan who grew up poor in Madras and became an explorer of mathematical theories at Cambridge University during World War 1.

The movie was released on 8 April 2016 with an IMDb rating of 7.2 out of 10.

19. Hidden Figures:

This movie is an American biographical drama of three female African- American mathematicians who worked at NASA during the Space Race. Katherine Johnson, Mary Jackson, and Dorothy Vaughan were the three colleagues with whom Katherine had exceptional analytical geometry skills, which helped her become the first black woman on her team.

Mary became an aerospace engineer, and Dorothy became a human computer due to her unbelievable calculation skills.

This movie captured all of their critical movements and personal hardships as they faced a lot of gender discrimination at work. It was released on 6 January 2017 with a 7.8 out of 10 IMDb rating.

20. Fermat’s Room:

This movie illustrates the story of three mathematicians and one inventor who were invited to a house to solve an enigma using various pseudonyms of historical math but ended up getting trapped there.

They were asked to solve some puzzles given by the host, who claimed himself as the “Fermat,” to get rid of the prison.

It is a thriller documentary released on 16 November 2017 with a 6.6 out of 10 IMDb rating.

21. The Oxford’s Murders:

 This thriller story revolves around Seldom, a mathematician, and his professor, who decode some Pythagorean symbols and algorithms to solve murder mysteries.

This story was released on 18 January 2008 with an IMDb rating of 6.1 out of 10.

22. Beautiful Young Minds:

This film is a documentary based on the International Mathematics Olympiad. The movie features many young mathematicians and their problem-solving abilities.

The documentary was released on 14 October 2007 with an 8.2 out of 10 IMDb rating.

23. X + Y: 

The Beautiful Young Minds inspire this documentary. This film focuses on a teenage English math prodigy who could not understand people comfortably but was very proficient with numbers. It was originally released as A Brilliant Young Mind in the US.

It was released on 13 March 2015 with a 7.1 out of 10 IMDb rating. 

24. Pi: 

The film’s title is based on a mathematical constant, ‘pi,’ which shows many mathematical concepts and theories.

Nonlinear dynamics, chaos theory,  and bifurcation diagrams are some major concepts discussed in this neo-noir psychological thriller movie through the medium of a mathematician who had a regularity in mathematics but specifically number theories.

It was released on 10 July 1998 with a 7.3 out of 10 IMDb rating.

25. An Invisible Sign:

This film revolves around a young woman who lost her father as a child. But she later turns into a mathematician after suffering from a great mental illness and starts to teach elementary school kids and help them to deal with their crises by themselves.

The movie was released on 7 October 2010 with a 5.3 out of 10 IMDb rating. 

You may also like to read: 10 Strategies for Motivating Students in Mathematics

Conclusion

Searching for a platform to watch the best math documentaries is as hard as finding a good documentary. Although there are many platforms to watch, the content there is not free; rather, it requires a subscription.

But spending such little is worth it if it takes your students to the world of math, where they can experience the interesting side of math and encourage them to learn it.