Galois. Story of a Revolutionary Mathematician, a cinematic journey through the short yet extraordinary life of Évariste Galois—mathematical genius, political radical, and romantic hero.
Synopsis: Paris, May 29, 1832. In the middle of the night, on the eve of a duel, Évariste Galois, a little older than twenty, handles for the last time a manuscript full of equations and theorems he hadwritten four years earlier. “I have no time! I do not have time!” he frantically wrote in the margins. Apart from the solution to a famous algebraic problem that has obsessed the minds of great mathematicians for centuries, that manuscript marks the beginning of an extraordinary scientific adventure that radically changed the way we see the world nowadays. Galois has made us aware of the power of symmetry and mathematical beauty, providing us with the ideal language to unveil the fundamental laws of the universe, from the microscopic world of elementary particles studied at CERN in Geneva, to the extraordinary vastness of intergalactic spaces. Genius, rebellious, revolutionary, bitter due to the lack of official recognition, intolerant of injustices, tormented by his father’s suicide, Galois is a romantic heroic character, a figure who seems to come out of the pages of a Victor Hugo or Stendhal’s novel. The tragic history of his life has a fascination that never seems to end.
Title: Galois. Story of a Revolutionary Mathematician
Genre: Documentary
Duration: 56 minutes
Directed by: Diego Cenetiempo
Original idea and Screenplay: Giuseppe Mussardo
Produced by SISSA (Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati, Italy), ICTP, Simons Center for Geometry and Physics, and others, the film includes appearances by renowned mathematicians and physicists such as Pierre Cartier, Alain Connes, Marcus du Sautoy, Cédric Villani, Don Zagier, and Martin Rees.
We look forward to welcoming all students, researchers, and enthusiasts of science, mathematics, and history for this special screening.