My favorite math thing

One of my favorite math things is the movie A Beautiful Mind starring Russel Crowe as Steve Nash, an extraordinary American mathematician of the twentieth century who pioneered the mathematical field of game theory. In the movie, he battles his personal demons while working on high level mathematics similar to the recent phenom Queen's Gambit about an extraordinary American chess player of the twentieth century battling demons while working on world-class chess strategy. Game theory is the most interesting branch of mathematics. There is a scene in the movie that shows how game theory was born in a bar in an entertaining way. The main character and his friends are all at a bar trying to decide how best to succeed with a beautiful woman when Steve Nash has a eureka moment that they can all increase their odds of success by working together - and game theory is born.

When it comes to mathematical food, one thing that I learned in my years as a chef was that when presenting food, odd numbers are more aesthetically pleasing then even numbers. So when presenting food, always try to have odd numbers of things. Kitchen math is also a favorite math thing of mine and I feel a good way to teach and exemplify math similar to teaching math from a financial literacy perspective. This makes it feel more real, relevant, tangible, useful and hands-on. Next to financial literacy, teaching math from a culinary point of view is one way that I will connect with some students. Everybody eats and almost everybody wants to know what's going on in the kitchen so it's a good way to connect.

Another mathematical kitchen thing of interest is "turning." Turning is shaping vegetables so that they stand up on their own and look pretty. Personally, I have never seen a use for it but here it is if you're interested: Go to about 3.5 minutes and 5.5 minutes to see the knifework.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WyzGfu-AK0