Good with Numbers: Difference between revisions

* Mark McHenry from ''[[Star Trek: New Frontier]]'' is specifically good with warp calculations, headings, speeds, and anything else related to navigation and piloting, much like the ''[[Star Trek]]'' examples below. In fact, at one point, a character specifically compares him to Data, in the "OK, the last time someone was this good, he was an android; what's up with this one?" sense. We eventually learn that {{spoiler|Mark is a descendent of Apollo (from the original series), and linked at some basic level to the universe at large.}}

* The Bursar of Unseen University in ''[[Discworld]]'' is this. Years ago, he was "a man whose idea of an exciting time had once been a boiled egg", and he has been driven totally, completely insane over the course of several books by Archchancellor Ridcully's habit of shouting at him and generally being as [[Large Ham|Hammy]] as possible. However, if you ask the Bursar a question that has anything to do with math (as his title suggests) he is able to answer it no matter which reality curve his mind is riding at the time. Since it's difficult to tell if he's really all right after things like nasty shocks, in later books this becomes a way of diagnosing him; if he can still answer a math question correctly and immediately, he's perfectly fine. Ridcully even seems to know this:

'''Ridcully''': -- but can't tie their boot laces. }}

** By ''Unseen Academicals'', however, he has either lost several more of his faculties or just been [[Retcon|retconned]] into an incompetent - Unseen University's finances are in a mess and Ponder Stibbons has had to take on the Bursar's job (in addition to his twelve ''official'' positions, and probably just about everything else that needs to get done, ever) because he 'regards the decimal point as a nuisance'. An [[Alternate Character Interpretation]] of this is that after discovering imaginary numbers and ''n''-dimensional manifolds in ''[[Discworld/The Science of Discworld|The Science of Discworld]]'', he refuses to descend from higher maths back to boring old arithmatic, and is trying to do the accounts with aleph-null and "umpt".

* Lulu from ''[[True Jackson, VP]]''. In one episode, she's hired to be a assitant. When she finishes all the work, another co-worker asks her to solve a math problem on the chalkboard. After a while, she figures out the board was upside down and turns it the right way and solves it.

* River Tam from ''[[Firefly]]'':

'''Jayne:''' "What? She killed them with mathematics. What else could it have been?" }}

* Face, on [[The A-Team]] is brilliant with numbers. Naturally he's in charge of the team's finances, which he keeps record of in a little black book (not that he needs it--he's really good at mental math).

* On ''[[Friends]]'' Chandler is irked whenever people concede that "numbers" is about all he has going for him. "Math? You're giving me math?"

* On ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine|Star Trek Deep Space Nine]]'' {{spoiler|Dr Bashir}} starts displaying this characteristic after it's revealed that {{spoiler|he's genetically engineered and therefore has (among other benefits) a superior brain}}.

{{spoiler|'''Bashir:'''}} "Seventeen years, two months and three days, give or take an hour." }}

** Likewise, [[Robot Buddy|Data]] was pretty good at math.

* James May on ''[[Top Gear]]'', at least by comparison to his somewhat [[Book Dumb]] co-presenters.

* Eli Wallace from ''[[Stargate Universe]]'' is a math prodigy. He is recruited into the Stargate program after solving a mathematical proof [[Ascended Fanboy|embedded in a video game]]. His math skills periodically come in handy, such as in "Light" when he quickly works out an intercept course for the shuttle.

'''Eli:''' ''Math'' boy. }}

* Near the end of ''[[The Prisoner]]'', Number Six mentions being good with figures, though it's not prominently demonstrated - it's probably more for ironic contrast with his resistance to [[You Are Number Six|being numbered]].

* The pilot episode of [[White Collar]] demonstrates Caffrey's amazing mathematics. He calculates 64 years of compound interest in a few seconds, then follows that up with the [[Sarcasm Mode|much more difficult]] task of dividing 600 by 4.

* Matt, Shirley's [[Love Interest]] in ''[[The Adventures of Shirley Holmes]]''. He even goes to a school for genius kids, and helps [[Everybody Hates Mathematics|Bo]] with the answers in a math-based Game Show so he'll be able to get in as well.

'''Matt:''' They're [[Mouthful of Pi|calculating pi]].<br />

'''Bo:''' Oh. }}

* Rosie Grape from ''[[Veggie Tales]]'' is the youngest member of her family, and also the only one that knew what seventy times seven was.

* Humorously averted by Bender on ''[[Futurama]]'', even though he's a robot.

'''Bender:''' I meant a ''good'' calculator. }}

 

== Web Originals ==

* [[Red vs. Blue|Red v Blue]] subverts this with Simmons proclaiming to be able to multiply large numbers in his head instantly. {{spoiler|He can't.}}

'''Simmons''': I know. It's a gift. }}

** For those math/calculator-challenged, 32 x 56 = 1792. God knows [[Ass Pull|where]] he got 31, 452.