Charlie Eppes is a mathematical
genius who helps the FBI solves crimes using data and mathematics. Charlie
Eppes is a character from the American television series NUMB3RS. I have been
watching it for a few weeks and in every episode of the series Charlie’s
mathematical theories/ formulas helps in solving a crime by finding a target or
finding a victim or something else.
Mathematics has been the nightmare
of many during their school/ college days. Given a choice I wouldn't have
wanted to do anything with it. What Charlie did using maths in the series looked
interesting to me which got me wondering why was it that I hated maths so much or
even the thought of it. I had a few theories of my own and wanted to test it. I
tried doing a small survey among a few friends to figure out what their favourite subject in school was. Keeping the languages aside a majority said History
(which happened to be my favourite too). There were people who liked maths and
physics but history was the clear leader… why?
History told us stories about nations, empires, warriors, great leaders, events and so on. The stories were easier to remember and relate to. You had a story/ stories against a name like Indus Valley Civilization, Maurya Empire, Maratha Empire, Chandragupta Maurya, Chattrapati Shivaji, Mahatma Gandhi, Bhagat Singh, Bal Gangadhar Tilak. These are some of the names or stories you never forget. Mathematics was all about a, b, x, y, sin, cos, tan, derivatives and so on which I could never relate to. Nobody created a story or event around any of these characters and hence it created more complications for me.
I like it when the FBI uses mathematics to solve crime. Maybe if maths was taught by explaining what one could achieve instead of just finding x and y it might have become slightly more interesting (at least for me). Think about it maths explained using stories… I might finally figure out what x or y could do. Those who have kids who hate mathematics might try explaining to them how we use math every day to predict weather, to tell time, to handle money, win a lottery or even solve crime. As Charlie Eppes explains in the series “Math is more than formulas or equations, it’s logic, it’s rationality, it’s using your mind to solve the biggest mysteries we know”.
Written by Naveen Nandan
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