Touching Soap Films

This video introduces the world of soap films via the story of a young boy exploring the palace of soap films. Under the guidance of an old professor, he witnesses never-before-seen shapes and animations of soap films, and gains fascinating insights. DVD-Video PAL

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This is a scientific video about the world of soap films, designed for the general public. Few other physical problems have influenced as many branches of mathematics in the past 200 years as have the study of soap films. A soap film is physically similar to a piece of rubber surface which tries to contract itself under surface tension to a surface with least area. This completely computer generated video explains the world of soap films in an amusing story, in which a young boy explores the palace of soap films. Under the guidance of an old professor, he gains fascinating insights and becomes a witness to never-before-seen shapes and animations of soap films. The authors have achieved the unique result of making the film exciting and enjoyable for both anyone interested in science and researchers in differential geometry. In addition, the film is ideally suited to be shown to school students, and hence of great interest to mathematics teachers. For the DVD version, "Geodesics and Waves" has been added.