Original subtitles

How many people do you know that are skilled in multiple fields?

Like, you never hear of a...

concert pianist who is also an accomplished film director.

You never see an opera singer slash racecar driver.

Supreme Court Justice...

slash tattoo artist.

Those worlds don't cross.

Which is why I'm so excited that today,

we have a published mathematician

and math author,

and successful, beloved actor,

and she may have been your first crush.

Danica McKellar

is here today.

Most of you know her as Winnie Cooper from The Wonder Years .

Or from her long and successful film and TV career.

But also,

some of you know her from the Chayes-McKellar-Winn Theorem,

her own math theorem that she helped prove.

That...

that's the one that's the most impressive to me.

P-squared over Q-squared.

So, this is the proof

that the square root of two is irrational.

This can't possibly be true

if this were written in reduced form.

As soon as I found out that Danica was coming,

I thought like, what could I do,

what would be so perfect?

We're gonna build a set of Napier's bones.

The Napier's bones can be used to teach multiplication.

Originally invented by my ancestor 400 years ago.

16th and 17th century mathematician,

John Napier.

That's pretty cool.

Ben?

- Hey, Danica. - Hi!

Look at this place.

- Hi. - How are you?

I'm great.

I cannot wait to figure all this out.

Who's gonna be teaching who today?

It might be me teaching you, but you might be teaching me.

You're a mathematician.

So, my brother's a math professor.

That's awesome.

I mean, most people, when you talk about doing

you know, hey, we're gonna work on math problems today...

- Right. - ...that sounds like a fun Saturday for my brother.

I can relate to your brother.

When I was in college, I had...

I actually got a chalkboard for my apartment

because I'd wake up in the middle of the night,

and turn on the light and go to my chalkboard

solving something.

It makes you feel alive.

Me and my brothers, we were all pretty good at math growing up.

And we had this sense of pride because

John Napier is our ancestor.

I heard that. That is incredible.

You are related. The same Napier as John Napier.

- Same family. - The inventor of logarithms.

I mean, and--

The Marvelous Merchiston was his nickname.

Inventor of logarithms,

the decimal point, made that common use.

Think about a decimal.

My ancestor is the reason you use that.

He invented this thing we're building today.

- That's right, we're gonna build Napier's bones. - Napier's bones.

We're gonna make our own version of Napier's bones

which we will then donate

to Ms. Thigpen's 5th grade Math class

at Laurel Upper Elementary.

And talk to them about math and Napier's bones and

multiplication and...

- it's gonna be good. - Can't wait!

- Come on. - All right.

- So, this is John Napier. - Yes.

Okay, this is--

See?

You know, I mean, yes...

- Which way is he looking? - ...with the beard and everything--

I'm trying to make my best John Napier face.

For sure.

His advancements in mathematics,

were so impressive,

that he was believed to be...

a magician.

That's right, magic math.

Lattice multiplication is the way that

multiplication is taught today.

John Napier helped advance that.

The Napier's bones helped with that.

That's what the Napier's bones are most useful for.

Do you know why they're called bones?

Is it just 'cause they look like bones?

They look kind of like bones.

5th grade is about the level when multiplication starts.

So, that's why we wanna give this to a 5th grade class.

Do you know how these work?

Yes, I do know how these work.

So, what problem should we start off with?

Let's so two times 43.

All right, so the two multipliers over here.

- Yeah. - Make 43 with the other strips.

- Put it next to it. - Cross the top.

Cross the top, and then you look in the two column.

You start from right to left, just like you would

with any other kind of multiplication, with the units digit.

First you write down six,

and for the next one, you look at this diagonal

and you add eight plus zero.

You're gonna get eight.

And then here's zero, so you just...

- leave it and 86. - 86.

Two times 43 is 86.

What's seven times 4396?

All right, write down the two.

Two.

- Next column is four plus three which is seven. - Seven.

Next column is six plus one which is seven.

Seven.

Next column is eight plus two, which is ten.

So, just write down a zero,

and you carry the one to this two.

Two plus one is three.

30,772.

And that's pretty fast considering that there's no calculator involved.

I mean...

this is awesome.

So, we're going to build...

Napier's bones.

So, what we're gonna do is actually build...

a tray with a lid.

Gonna start with a 12 by 12 box.

What I was imagining is using Southern walnut,

and splined miter joints.

And we're gonna spline it with mahogany.

And then, the bottom of the tray and the top of the lid

are gonna have quarter sawn white oak.

We're gonna take a sheet of maple

to a local engraver

and then we'll come back here and actually cut the bones out.

- Cool. - I can nerd out about this

all day long.

Multiplication, right here. It's a fun, creative way of doing it,

and it's right in line with what I've been doing.

Have you always been good at math?

I've not always been good at math, actually.

Uh...

in the 7th grade, I really struggled with math.

- Okay. - And I thought I couldn't do it and I thought I was stupid,

and then midway through the 7th grade,

something amazing happened.

We got a new teacher.

And somehow, the exact same concepts

that had been so scary and foreign to me, made sense.

And they were accessible.

And she changed my life in math.

- That's awesome. - Yeah.

Our first stage is gonna be at the table saw

where we're gonna be cutting our quarter sawn white oak

and our walnut,

and prepping them for the build.

We gotta get you suited up.

All right, a Scotsman apron.

That's it.

Right, I'm ready.

- We're ready. - We're ready, okay.

- We look official. - We pose first.

Yeah.

It's a pretty simple build,

but I want to add a little flair

in the wood types that we use.

This is what most people when they think of walnut,

- this is it. - Mmm-hmm.

Okay, but then you see how this Southern walnut,

I mean, that looks like silk piled up.

I see like, blue and purple and orange--

You see how...

- this fades from dark to light? - Mmm-hmm.

We're gonna take a board

and as we build our piece,

we're gonna continue that grain

all the way around.

That looks really pretty.

So, we're using Southern walnut,

we're using quarter sawn white oak,

we're using bird's-eye maple, we're using mahogany.

Like, these are all woods that...

have a little something to them.

This is the...

frame or the sides of our tray...

- Mmm-hmm - ...and the lid.

- Cool. - So we'll make eight sides out of this.

Whoa!

- All right. - Look at that.

Whoo.

Did it. All right.

♪ I take home Enough for bills ♪

♪ Supermarket brands With no frills ♪

I'm sure you've been asked this...

probably more than anything in your life,

but...

what was it like, doing The Wonder Years?

You know, it was my childhood.

The show started when I was 12 and it went till I was 18.

My first kiss in real life or anywhere happened...

on television.

We all know how nerve-wracking it is before your very first kiss.

- Yes. - Because you don't know

if it's gonna happen or not.

- Right. - Well, guess what?

You know it's happening.

I knew it was gonna happen.

- It's in the script. - It was in the script. It was right there.

But I was still nervous and I had a huge crush on Fred at that time

and to make matters worse...

after the first kiss,

when they yelled, "Cut!"

The entire crew broke out into applause.

I mean...

you know, you're 12,

you get your first kiss,

and you're just... you're trying to have a moment.

Good job, okay, okay.

So, it was my real life junior high and high school experience.

I really had that...

dual life.

So, we'd like, do 20 minutes of a math test,

and then go off and do like, an emotional, crying scene,

and then come back and finish the test.

It's two extremes.

Right. And it really taught me

how to get a lot done.

Which kind of, I think,

is why I'm able to have the career that I have today,

which is acting and writing math books,

and being a homeschooling mom.

And a woodworker.

So, quarter sawn white oak is...

my favorite wood species to work with.

Okay, now, it's the same as any white oak

except for the way it's sawmilled.

This way that it is cut,

exposes a different grain pattern

that is crossing it.

And those are called medullary rays.

It's just... stunning.

That'll make our tray and our lid.

For our frame,

we're gonna put in a dado stack,

which is essentially just a stack of saw blades.

And we'll cut a groove out

that our white oak will fit into it.

So, now we're gonna change from a singular saw blade,

to our dado stack on the table saw.

We're gonna use that to cut the groove in our walnut

that we're gonna use for the frame of the tray and the lid.

And once we assemble it,

our quarter sawn pieces will fit

into these grooves.

So, we'll cut our groove,

- and then we're gonna jump over here to the miter saw. - Mmm-hmm.

We will cut 45-degree angles.

- Ah, 45 degrees, as in half of 90. - Half of 90.

Okay, that's math.

- I mean... - It started.

Hello! We're doing math.

Hold on to your hats, everybody.

This is not currently perpendicular but we must make it perpendicular.

That's right.

Awesome.

So, for Stage 2,

we are actually cutting the frame.

- Perfectly perpendicular. - Perfect.

We're gonna have these joints continue all the way around,

so we're gonna mark everything.

Oh, I see. So they match each other.

I typically use letters.

We're actually gonna grain match the frame of the box using a miter joint.

The important thing here is that we have to mark

the ends of each board.

When we put it all together, we can match our symbols.

Much like in mathematics, you use symbols.

And that way, our grain will continue all the way around.

I'm gonna do a heart.

Oh, a heart?

You know, algebra symbols can be anything.

Heart times two equals four.

Exactly.

Look at that beautiful 45-degree angle.

I love it.

And 45 degrees is a quarter of...

is one-fourths of--

- 180. - And it's one-eighth of--

- one-eight of 360. - 360.

I mean, just math-ing it up, over here.

- Full circle! - That was a 360 for you.

This is similar to a waterfall pattern.

When we connect them, and glue them together,

that grain will start on one corner,

and it will run all the way cleanly through the next three corners.

Then it'll end back where we started.

- Look at that. - Go together.

And the grain matches.

What was it like getting into UCLA?

You know, I'd done The Wonder Years for six years at that point,

and the show had just ended.

Everywhere I went,

"Hey, Winnie! Where's Kevin?"

or, "aren't you that girl who's on TV?"

You don't get a chance to figure out who else you are.

And at that age, we're all trying to figure out who we are in the first place.

My plan was to get a degree in filmmaking.

And I had to take a physical science.

I thought college math was going to be so difficult, just beyond me.

And when I look back, I realize it was the stereotypes that I held in my own mind...

- Yeah. - ...about who was good at math

and what a good math student looked like.

So, when you say the stereotypes of what a math student looks like...

- Yes. - ...what did you see?

Uh... a guy.

You saw it as a man's world.

Yes, of course.

- Okay. - This is the '90s.

And the idea that most girls just...

- aren't gonna be smart enough to... - Not good at math.

...study math, something really, truly challenging

was stuck in my head.

And I studied really hard, I took the first midterm.

The professor came up to me afterwards and said,

"You have a gift in mathematics.

You must pursue this."

But even more importantly,

the next day in this math class,

this guy taps me on the shoulder and says,

"Excuse me, aren't you that girl...

who got the 22?"

For me, that moment was...

it was magical.

Because I felt this sense of pride and value,

and it really helped me to ground myself and find a new identity

outside of the persona of Winnie Cooper.

- Which, I am so grateful for The Wonder Years... - Absolutely.

...and so grateful for Winnie Cooper.

But it was so refreshing and important for me to find mathematics

because it gave me a sense of value.

- That was you. - It was just me, not the show.

You are no longer Winnie, you are winning.

I was winning. Yeah, I like it.

We're gluing our white oak into two panels.

One for the tray base which will hold the Napier's bones,

and the other for the lid.

After they're dried,

we're gonna drum sand them to the correct thickness

so they can be fitted and glued into the rails

we cut out of our Southern walnut frames.

Two pieces of quarter sawn white oak.

- Mmm-hmm. - You can see the seam.

- Yep, yeah. - We have...

four sides for this one.

- Four sides for this one... - Mmm-hmm.

...glue and clamps.

We're gonna dry-fit this together.

And make sure your symbols line up.

There's a star.

How did you get the opportunity

to prove a theory?

Theorem?

Theorem, not theory.

The Chayes-McKellar...

- Winn Theorem - ...Winn Theorem.

Myself and another student, and this one particular professor

saw a lot of potential in us,

and said, "Hey, would you guys like to help to prove a theorem

that's similar to something that I've proven,

but something that I haven't proven yet."

We're like, "Sure."

Here's the thing though, there's no "Eureka!" moment.

So, we took about nine months.

And if it's not an airtight argument, you've not proven it.

Coming up with a cool way to prove it is exciting.

We were published in Britain's Journal of Physics.

That's next level...

math.

- It was fun, though. - Yeah.

It was a fun place to be.

- We can go ahead and clamp and glue up. - Okay.

And then we'll work on the bones while that dries.

Perfect.

From Stage 2 to Stage 3,

it looks like things move really fast

because we're actually assembling our tray

and our lid.

Our cuts are so perfect and so precise,

that everything just comes together really nicely.

We're gonna glue everything up.

- That's it. - Cool.

While we've got our tray and our lid drying,

we're actually going to work on the bones.

This is our Napier's bones.

The bones, they're in there.

This shall be the bones.

This will be the bones.

The original Napier's bones were a light-colored material.

And so, we are gonna use maple.

Maple's typically a light-colored wood.

That's pretty thick. We're gonna cut these thinner.

- Okay. - You've ever heard

someone say a piece of wood was bookmatched?

What this is, is...

- they cut it, and open it like a book. - Uh-huh.

How did you get into book writing?

- See how I did that? - Oh!

- Did you see what I did there? - Oh, I like-- I like it.

- Yes! - You know, uh...

So, in 2000, shortly after graduating from college,

I was invited to speak in front of Congress

about the importance of women in mathematics.

And I started learning about the issue

that middle school is the time when girls start to shy away from math.

That was what I wanted to focus on.

And I pledged to Congress that I would get better PR for mathematics.

Because I know that a big part of the problem is stereotype.

And so for middle school,

I wrote my first book called, Math Doesn't Suck:

How to Survive Middle-School Math Without Losing Your Mind or Breaking a Nail.

My most recent book that came out is called The Times Machine!

It's fun and it's not so intimidating.

It's so useful for kids.

I regularly donate my books to charities all the time

because I just want to get them into more hands of more kids.

That's cool.

Might have to get some for my girls.

Yes!

♪ I like to do my business With some attitude ♪

Danica is using her ability as a mathematician,

as an entertainer,

and fuse them together in her books,

into this one thing that is changing the way kids look at math.

Beautiful!

- And you see how the grain continues around? - Yes!

It's beautiful. It's perfect.

Now that our maple is prepped,

our tray is dry,

we're gonna head over to Sawmill Monogramming.

We're gonna have some engraving done

on our Napier's bones.

So, this is my chariot.

I love it.

- What year is this car? - This is a '62.

Just like on The Wonder Years.

- That's right. - Here we go!

♪ I'm cruising up the highway I'm stuck in overdrive ♪

- ♪ So keep ♪ - ♪ Keep on rolling ♪

Do you see everything in numbers?

Yeah, I do like numbers.

Like, memorizing a phone number is pretty easy because

- I'll find patterns in it. - Yeah.

This is Sawmill Monogramming.

- Cool. - They do...

embroidery, engraving, screen printing.

They do a lot of work for us.

- Hey! How you doing? - Hi! Danica.

Mike Garick. Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you too.

Ben, how you doing?

I'm good. I'm good.

So, these are the Napier's bones.

- Okay. - We sent you the artwork.

- This is the grid with the numbers. - Right.

- Well, cool. Take it in here and I'll show you. - Okay.

This is where the bones become bones.

I've already sent the pattern over.

It's on the computer.

Once you start the button, this is gonna move up.

There's a laser beam that's gonna come out of that.

And it's gonna burn it into the wood.

Just hit the 'Start.'

There she goes.

- Whoa. - Whoa!

So how long does this take?

This particular item, 30 minutes.

The numbers are starting. You can see them.

You can start seeing the numbers.

This is a really cool process.

It's like a laser printer.

Like you see in an office.

But it is a laser that is burning...

the numbers into the bones.

I want to get a little video of this because it's so awesome.

Now you're gonna want one.

I know. I do.

This is so cool.

T he way that woodworking is done has pretty much not changed...

ever.

The tools and equipment have changed.

I could have done this with a wood burner

or with a little, you know, engraving tool,

and it would have taken me two days.

But this is so much faster and so much cleaner, and why not,

you know, show a new way of doing it?

This could be considered a form of woodworking.

Back at the shop,

before we cut out our newly engraved Napier's bones,

we're gonna focus on adding

a little something special to our miter joints.

The joinery that we're gonna focus on

is actually splined miter joints

for our tray,

and for our lid.

Nothing wrong with a 45 mitered corner.

Okay? It's pretty, it's clean,

it's classic.

But what we want to do is then take that a step further,

and we're gonna do a splined joint inside of that.

And the way that works is,

you take your frame,

you lay it in a jig,

and run it across your table saw.

So that you cut a groove that is going against,

perpendicular, to that 45 joint.

Then we will spline that,

or we will insert a piece of mahogany that crosses that joint.

And just makes the joint a little bit stronger.

But also, it's really pretty.

The idea here is that, over time,

our math teachers will pull these out,

to show the students.

It's gonna get beat up and it's gonna get used...

- Right. - ...and this joint will hold for a lot longer.

Awesome.

- You finish college. - Yes.

Published...

mathematician.

Yes.

But you're going back into acting. How was that?

It was a rocky reentry.

For a lot of child actors, they come back to the business and...

you know, they've been through some hard times.

So, I would go on these auditions

and casting directors would look at me like, with pity.

Like, "Oh, we haven't seen you for a while. You know, everything okay?"

And I'm like, "Yeah, no. I was actually getting a degree.

I was at college." Like, "Oh!

That's nice. That's so good. Theater?"

And I get to say, "Well, actually, mathematics."

The expectations were so low of me.

They were expecting that I would have gotten into drugs or

- something on the wrong side of the tracks-- - That's the stereotype.

It is a stereotype. It is a stereotype for a reason.

A lot of insecurities come when

your identity is grounded in something that's not you anymore.

But in this case, I got to say,

I was actually busy getting a degree in mathematics.

But eventually then, yes,

everyone kind of learned that I had...

taken this break for mathematics

and I started on The West Wing,

How I Met Your Mother and

Big Bang Theory.

and then I found Hallmark channel,

and kind of got into doing Hallmark movies.

That is so cool to me, that you...

did this thing,

then you got out of it and you mastered this other thing.

And then you came back to that.

- Yeah. - So cool.

Maybe the most interesting part of Danica's success story,

is her books.

She saw a problem there that,

math is hard to talk about.

You know, a lot of people don't like math.

We got our bones.

- Let's go sand them. - Amazing.

Any book that helps a kid learn something,

or maybe piques their interest into something,

it can be life-changing for a kid.

And maybe this tool,

maybe this set of Napier's bones

will be life-changing for somebody.

The bones of Napier's bones.

It says, "Made by Danica McKellar and Ben Napier"

Ugh, I love it.

- That's us. - That's us!

Putting our little mark on Laurel, Mississippi.

- Pack it up. - Right.

- Let's go back to school. - Okay.

Danica and I, both share a love of learning.

We both share a love of math.

We're gonna take this to a 5th grade math class.

We're going to surprise a math class

with this new tool.

- I'm excited. - We're going in right here.

So, we're looking for Ms. Thigpen's 5th grade math class.

These kids are gonna be so excited.

I hope so.

Do those signs flip?

- No. - No.

- because math-- - Does not change.

Hello.

Oh, my gosh!

Hey.

What's up, y'all?

- Say hello, boys and girls. - Hello!

Hi! How you guys doing?

- Good! - Good.

What are we reading?

We're reading The Times Machine!

I know that book.

Do you know who wrote it?

"Danica McKellar."

So cool!

- She's here! - Do you guys like it?

- Yes, ma'am. - Awesome.

So, we have brought you...

a set of Napier's bones.

Ooh...

And it is a multiplication tool.

This is for you.

- Thank you. - So, you have fun with your students.

Thank you for being such a wonderful math teacher,

- and inspiring them. - Yeah.

And I appreciate this gift.

It's gonna work so well with of centers,

and having the kids move around.

Learning these multiplication facts.

I am excited about this gift.

- I'm so glad. - So, thank you so much

for making this for us.

You guys want to try it out?

- Yes, ma'am. - Yeah? Okay.

So, what's two times two?

Four.

So, you put a zero,

and then the what?

The four.

Very good job.

Y'all are awesome. Y'all are super smart.

This is a really special project

because one, it's something I've always wanted to make.

I mean, it's a part of my, you know, family history.

Okay? That's special.

- Yes, ma'am. So, you got to put them right there. - There you go.

But then also, to get to hang out with Danica,

to get to build this with her, a mathematician,

that makes it a little bit more special.

I've seen pictures of Napier's bones.

But to see it all come together,

with the engraving,

with the spline joints,

with the different wood species.

This is a really beautiful piece.

Let's give our guests five big claps.

Five big math claps. - I love it.

That's good.

I think we're leaving these Napier's bones in really good hands.

- Yeah, we are. - With an amazing teacher.

And thank you so much for having us.

You're welcome.

- Thank you. - Bye, y'all.

Bye.

Have fun doing math.

- We will. - Yes.

To give something to a class

that the teacher immediately starts using to teach,

that's pretty cool.

Six times six?

36.

Great job, kiddos.

Math is awesome.