Sex, Lies and Videotape (by G. Allaire and P.-L. Lions)

In order to understand the small pill shown below, it is necessary, especially for young people, to explain some of the elements involved.

The quote appears in the introduction to the book Numerical Analysis and Optimization, by Grégoire Allaire (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2007). It is a wonderful book, very useful for any student who wishes to enter the world of modelling through partial differential equations, both from the theoretical and numerical point of view.

Grégoire Allaire is a French mathematician, professor at the École Polytechnique, Paris-Saclay, former President of the Société de Mathématiques Appliquées et Industrielles.

The phrase is by Pierre-Louis Lions, a renowned French mathematician, specialist in partial differential equations, awarded by numerous prizes including the Fields Medal in 1994.

While we are on the subject of the non-existence of the Nobel Prize in Mathematics, it is worth remembering that the “romantic” version of this lack of attention to mathematicians, according to which the motive was Alfred Nobel’s wife’s infidelity with a mathematician, has never been confirmed. The more plausible version is that Nobel’s interests, a chemical engineer with links to the world of arms and business, were far removed from mathematics. In fact, Nobel never got married!

The film is Sex, Lies and Videotape, 1989, Steven Soderbergh’s debut movie. It was a notable success, to which its suggestive title surely contributed (remember that videotapes were the standard support for films). The film narrates the personal and sexual relationships of four friends (two former university classmates and two very different sisters) with an excellent rhythm and an original mise-en-scène. It won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.

The quote is as follows:

“Paraphrasing the title of a famous film, my colleague Pierre-Louis Lions claims that applied mathematics is characterized by three things: Sex, Lies, and Videotapes. Videocassettes are of course the symbols of digital simulation (and of the films that they produce), lies correspond to models (not always faithful to reality), and the sex is obviously mathematical analysis (inextinguishable engine of human passions and source of much pleasure).”

If in doubt, ask, for example, any specialist in differential equations and numerical analysis at the end of one of his or her works.