The Secret Rules of Modern Living: Algorithms

A documentary on algorithms and their practical uses in our lives, presented by Oxford mathematics Professor Marcus du Sautoy.

Interesting and edifying. Professor du Sautoy, who also brought us the documentary series The Story of Maths, takes a very complex subject and makes it understandable and relatable. By taking everyday examples, e.g. the ordering of planes taking off at Heathrow, du Sautoy demonstrates the uses, importance and abundance of algorithms.

The downside to making it more widely accessible and understandable is that the documentary is quite light on the maths. As a mathematical person I would have preferred a bit more of the technical side of such algorithms. Can't have it both ways, I suppose.

The other negative of the program is that, by his own admission, Professor du Sautoy doesn't like This Is Spinal Tap...