On paper, the concept sounds positively deadly: An FBI agent recruits his genius mathematician brother to help solve crimes using concepts such as Heisenberg's uncertainty principle and the Foucault pendulum.
But the CBS drama "Numb3rs" has not only become the most popular show on Friday nights, it's also developed into a handy teaching tool at hundreds of schools nationwide.
Wendy Hall, a middle-school math teacher, said when she first heard about "Numb3rs" in 2005, she was skeptical. In fact, she didn't even bother to watch it the first season.
But when she heard Texas Instruments had developed a program dubbed "We All Use Math Every Day" built around the show, she decided to check it out. She liked the exercises and showed an episode in class.
The students "instantly became hooked," Hall said.
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Part of the show's appeal is actor David Krumholtz's charismatic yet nuanced take on Charlie Eppes, the young mathematician at CalSci, a fictional version of the renowned California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
"All my friends love his hair," said Samantha Castigna, a high school sophomore. "You normally think of a math professor with glasses and stringy hair." Her teacher, Raymond Bacud, this year aired episodes of "Numb3rs" in class as a bonus.
"He'll put on the show after a big test when everyone is sick of math," Castigna said. "It really helps my class understand that what we're learning is important."
In taking the role, Krumholtz said, he found Charlie appealing because of his own deep passion for math. And he has internalized the philosophy Charlie embraces.
"Math is the real world. It's everywhere," his character says in one episode, with poetic grace. "Math is nature's language."
Krumholtz is astounded by the reaction of math teachers at conferences he's attended. "I'm treated like a Beatle," he said, with bemusement.
The show — which also stars Rob Morrow ("Northern Exposure") as Charlie's FBI agent brother and Judd Hirsch ("Taxi") as their dad — goes out of its way to ensure the math is accurate and reasonably plausible. Even the formulas seen on the white boards on the show are real.
Krumholtz said he's been forced to improve his math skills. He is proud that he caught a mistake in a script that incorrectly said nine is a prime, a number that can be divided only by 1 and itself.
The science community has embraced the show, too. Last year, "Numb3rs" co-creators Cheryl Heuton and Nicolas Falacci were awarded the Carl Sagan Award for the Public Understanding of Science.
Both credit the success of "CSI" for paving the way for "Numb3rs." "After 'CSI,' CBS wasn't scared of people in a lab studying bits of hair," Heuton said.
The show has two researchers on staff and dozens of consultants seeking ways to use math as a way to solve crimes.
Justin Romberg, a Georgia Tech electrical engineering professor, reads "Numb3rs" scripts for accuracy and plausibility before episodes go into production.
"The main complaints I hear from people is that Charlie is a superman, that no single mathematician has so much knowledge in so many specialized areas," said Romberg, who received his postdoctoral at Cal Tech.
On TV
"Numb3rs" airs at 9 p.m. Fridays on CBS.
