Every stunning 3D image you see in a movie or video game is a beautiful, calculated triumph of algebra.

Specifically, it is a triumph of Linear Algebra.

Every object in a 3D scene is just a collection of vertices, which are points defined by (x, y, z) coordinates.

These coordinates are stored in matrices.

When you want to move an object, you multiply its coordinate matrix by a 'translation' matrix.

When you want to rotate an object, you multiply its coordinate matrix by a 'rotation' matrix.

When you want to scale an object up or down, you multiply its coordinate matrix by a 'scaling' matrix.

The final image you see on your 2D screen is created by multiplying the 3D world's coordinates by a 'projection' matrix.

Your computer's Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) is a piece of hardware specifically designed to do these matrix multiplications billions of times per second.

Computer graphics is one of the most direct and visually spectacular applications of algebraic principles in the world.