We were sent a free copy of this book by the publisher, and invited irregular contributor Elinor Flavell to read and review it. Been feeling finite recently? Bounded by life? Those larger numbers feeling out of reach? Then you need “A Guide to Infinity: Ten Mathematical Journeys” by Edward R. Scheinerman. Over ten chapters, Scheinerman…
Double Maths First Thing has been blown away by a puzzle Hello! My name is Colin and I am a mathematician on a mission to spread the joy and delight in mathematical thinking, in figuring things out, and in doing things that make you feel clever. Such as – I’m indebted to Miles Gould for…
Double Maths First Thing is petitioning the weather to be nicer Hello! My name is Colin and I am a mathematician on a mission to spread joy and delight in all things mathematical. I had a nice “oho!” moment in class with a student today looking at a question from a Madas paper – it’s…
Double Maths First Thing has Youri Tielemans in swaps Hello! My name is Colin and I am a mathematician on a mission to spread the joy and delight of figuring stuff out. I’ve been thinking a lot about MathsJam and Parkrun and similar activities, where the point is just showing up and doing the thing…
The next issue of the Carnival of Mathematics, rounding up blog posts from the month of April 2026, is now online courtesy of Karrie Liu. The Carnival rounds up maths blog posts from all over the internet, including some from our own Aperiodical. See our Carnival of Mathematics page for more information.
Double Maths First Thing no longer runs marathons. Hello! My name is Colin and I am a mathematician on a mission to spread the joy and delight of doing maths, figuring things out and generally taking pleasure in doing clever things. Like everyone else, I was thrilled to see Sabastian Sawe and Yomif Kejelcha break…
There’s a story about a child mathematician talking to an older mathematician and saying “I think the biggest number is a TRILLION.” The grown-up says “OK, but what about a trillion and one?” The child mathematician looks crestfallen, but only for a moment. “Oh. At least I was close!” If you’ve ever interacted with mathematically-inclined…