Skip to main content
The Great Math Mystery

Up Next

Arctic Ghost Ship

Arctic Ghost Ship

Season 42 Episode 16
53:37
Making North America: Origins

Making North America: Origins

Season 42 Episode 20
53:35
Making North America: Life

Making North America: Life

Season 42 Episode 21
53:35
Making North America: Human

Making North America: Human

Season 42 Episode 22
53:36
Inside Einstein's Mind

Inside Einstein's Mind

Season 42 Episode 23
53:07
Iceman Reborn

Iceman Reborn

Season 43 Episode 5
53:32
Can Alzheimer's Be Stopped?

Can Alzheimer's Be Stopped?

Season 43 Episode 8
52:51
Bombing Hitler's Supergun

Bombing Hitler's Supergun

Season 43 Episode 14
53:49
School of the Future

School of the Future

Season 43 Episode 15
1:53:34
Ultimate Cruise Ship

Ultimate Cruise Ship

Season 44 Episode 4
53:09
Building Chernobyl's MegaTomb

Building Chernobyl's MegaTomb

Season 44 Episode 8
52:55
Killer Volcanoes

Killer Volcanoes

Season 44 Episode 16
54:10
Back to Show
NOVA

The Great Math Mystery

Season 42 Episode 7

Join NOVA on a mathematical mystery tour—a provocative exploration of math's astonishing power across the centuries. We discover math's signature in the swirl of a nautilus shell, the whirlpool of a galaxy, and the spiral in the center of a sunflower. It all leads to the ultimate riddle: Is math a human invention or the discovery of the language of the universe?

Watch Preview
Only Available with Passport Starting
4/27/2020
Season
Crypto Decoded
Unlock with PBS Passport
53:22
What exactly is crypto, and how does it work? This technology is more than just money.
Nazca Desert Mystery
Unlock with PBS Passport
53:31
Who created the Nazca lines and why? New clues to one of the greatest ancient enigmas.
Ocean Invaders
Unlock with PBS Passport
53:32
Meet one of the ocean’s most beautiful and destructive species: Lionfish.
Can Psychedelics Cure?
53:47
Psychedelics are unlocking new ways to treat conditions like addiction and depression.
Computers v. Crime
53:30
Is artificial intelligence making policing and courts fairer, or is it increasing bias?
Rebuilding Notre Dame
Unlock with PBS Passport
53:43
A team tackles the restoration of iconic Notre Dame Cathedral.
Saving Venice
Unlock with PBS Passport
53:31
Can innovative engineering projects save Venice?
Ending HIV in America
53:33
Can innovative drugs and therapies finally end HIV?
Ice Age Footprints
53:43
Ancient footprints provide new evidence of humans and extinct giant beasts of the Ice Age.
Why Ships Crash
Unlock with PBS Passport
53:20
How could a single ship cause a major supply chain crisis around the globe?
Great Mammoth Mystery
53:16
Sir David Attenborough explores a site with traces of ancient mammoths and Neanderthals.
Arctic Sinkholes
53:30
In the Arctic, enormous releases of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, threaten the climate
Active loading indicator