How do mathematicians think? This 60 minute documentary film, made by Heidi Morstang, features nine UK-based mathematicians offering insights into their mathematical thinking across a broad range of mathematical research fields.
Through explorations of their various thought processes, the film portrays mathematicians who are grappling with advanced mathematical ideas. We are presented with the concepts of imagination, intuition, and wonder, as well as rigorous mathematical deduction.
The film features Kevin Buzzard, Peter Donnelly, Tim Gowers, Martin Hairer, Roger Penrose, Caroline Series, Richard Thomas, Reidun Twarock and Karen Vogtmann.
Commissioned by the London Mathematical Society (LMS) to celebrate their 150th anniversary, this film is part of the exhibition: ‘There is Geometry in the Humming of the Strings, There is Music in the Spacing of the Spheres’: Conversations Across Art and Mathematics. Two artists were selected to create projects around conversations with mathematicians, painter Mark Francis and architect George L. Legendre. Curated by Barry Phipps, Art Historian at University of Cambridge.
Heidi Morstang works with moving image, photography and experimental documentary films. She is interested in the social, cultural, mythological and archaeological histories embedded in landscapes. Her work has been exhibited widely internationally since 1995, and works are held in various private and public collections. She is a lecturer in photography at Plymouth University, where she co-convenes the Land/Water and the Visual Arts Research Group and is a member the Photography Research Group.
