This is a bit of an extension/update to my previous post about TV and science inspiration. It turns out that Wolfram Research, the makers of Mathematica math-analysis software, are now the official math consultants of the CBS cops/FBI show "NUMB3RS". The premise of this show is that a mathematician helps an FBI group to catch the bad guys. What's especially cool about the Wolfram connection is that with each episode, the math advisors now write up an episode webpage linked with CBS's NUMB3RS webpage, which explains in much more detail the math topics discussed in that week's story. The one for episode #401 that I read was a very nice introduction to set coverage and optimization (which in fact relates to some of the sensor coverage research my department at APL does). It included script snippets, graphics, and even interactive demonstration applets using the new Mathematica Reader that can be downloaded for free from Wolfram. (That Reader is also used to play the wonderful online Demonstrations Project applets on the Mathematica website.) The episode writeup was really interesting for a scientist/mathematician guy to read, and I'll definitely come back to read them for future episodes. But unfortunately it was far from readable by the general public, having equations and jargon after the introductory paragraphs. Perhaps that will change as the series goes on, and meanwhile it's a start. I'm still absolutely amazed that Hollywood is doing a partnership like this -- wow!

Now, I'd never seen the show before this announcement, so I had to go check out an episode (1st episode of 4th season, i.e. #401), since seeing a company like Wolfram connected with it means some real trust in the math information. Alas, the show itself was pretty much like other more serious cop shows, a bit violent for my taste, and the mathematician twist was definitely a side note. The mathematician character got several chances during the episode to explain something, with accompanying computer graphics and all, but it goes so fast and seemed so superfluous to the plot that it left me wondering what the point was. Still though, just as X-files was supposedly correlated with an increase in FBI applicants, and LA Law was supposedly correlated with an increase in law-school applicants, perhaps in itself the idea of a hip mathematician helping FBI cases will be enough to produce more applicants to math programs in schools and colleges.

There's one other such outside connection with that show, via Texas Instruments and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). Those two organizations host a website that aims to teach kids about the mathematical subjects cited in episodes of that show. But while the idea may seem nice, I'm aghast they're promoting this for kids in grades 7-12. Twelfth and maybe eleventh graders, fine, but seventh graders are as young as 12 years old. I've only watched one episode (#401), but it had terrible torture scenes, scenes showing a mutilated body, and a number of people graphically being shot to death. If you want to make an adult show, great, and if some parents choose to allow their kids that young to watch it, that's their choice. But the TI/NCTM website doesn't even mention that there is strong violence in the show - the closest they get is, "Is there any content in the show that is inappropriate for my younger child? We encourage parents to watch television with their kids to supervise what they are viewing." For f**k's sake, how can CBS and TI and especially NCTM actively promote that young kids watch this show? I'm appalled and do not agree with that at all.

But I do love the Wolfram webpages for the episodes, those are just fantastic.