Search - The Story of 1 on DVD

Very fun documentary, but a very brief overview

Gradient Vector Field | MA, USA | 06/18/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This was a really fun documentary to watch, regardless of how elementary it was overall. However, the documentary is only about an hour long so you can't really recount the history of civilization (which goes with math) in that short period of time. This documentary does give the viewer a clearly defined impression that the number one is far more complex in history than most people might have thought. Granted there are assuredly more numbers than just one, the friends 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 do make a cameo appearance every now and again, but as the DVD points out... they're all made up of units of one when broken down! That is until the rise of zero comes into play.

Math and history are probably two of my most favored subjects and I've been getting into documentaries as of late, so to combine the two in one setting was a great find! All this and to top it off with having it narrated by Terry Jones from Monty Python fame. With that kind of a narrator I was expecting a fair degree of silliness throughout the documentary. Granted it's not nearly as off the wall as we get in Monty Python skits (unfortunately there are no silly walks), but it did have its humorous moments. I suppose the concept derived from the fact that most people find math boring or cumbersome so they wanted to lighten the mood. Most of this silliness is generated via computer graphics with representations of numbers getting into mischief and so forth. Terry Jones certainly has his witty quips thrown in to make it entertaining as well. I must reference what he said the Egyptians liked to do for those who have seen this already.

This documentary goes over how essential mathematics was for building civilization even in ancient times dating back to Sumer. It goes over some of the most major breakthroughs in mathematics in history and how those affected the world we know today. One part I found particularly fascinating was when they were going over the Roman system and how cumbersome it was to use to make even some of the most simplistic calculations, especially if you wanted to deal with large numbers! The effects would hamper the rise of Europe's civilization for generations until the numerals from India were eventually introduced via the Arab nations who refined them a little. Eventually the documentary brings us into the digital and goes over binary, don't worry you don't really have to know how to read the binary system to really get what's going on at the end.

If you did pick this up to show to a class then I'm sort of torn on this topic. Some of the information is probably too complex for younger students, but also might be too silly for those in high school. Lets admit it, not all high school students find mathematics all that riveting and to see dancing numbers on the screen just might not grab their interest. A junior high level class may be more acceptable, but still there might be some subjects touched upon that few will truly grasp and understand, depending on their schooling level at that age. Just some thoughts for teachers who may decide to purchase this.

Amidst all this it really is an excellent brief overview. So if you have a general interest in history and you want to see how math really made our civilization possible then this is definitely something worth watching. On the flip side if you're into math and you want to see how math influenced society and civilization in history then this is also a must see! If you already have a decent handle on both subjects don't plan on finding any new information here, because this really is a brief overview, kind of plants the seeds of curiosity for more in depth research, if you will. However brief this is, it is fun to watch and even if you know the history and have a decent math background like myself, then I have to say I spent an hour being entertained by subjects I already love with a very smart script to pull it all together."