You may know from our recent foray into breaking news that the Fields Medal awarded to Caucher Birkar was stolen, minutes after it was awarded. It turns out the International Mathematical Committee (IMU) had a spare medal in Rio for display purposes, and they decided to award it to Birkar as a replacement. Birkar is…
The Big Internet Math-Off – The end
It’s all over! The votes are in, they have been counted, and I can announce that the winner of The Big Internet Math-Off is: Nira Chamberlain! Massive congratulations to Nira, you may now refer to yourself as The World’s Most Interesting Mathematician*. Nira’s pitch on applied mathematics won 56% of the vote in the final,…
Royal Society Science Book Prize shortlist announced
Announcing our 2018 #scibooks prize shortlist. Celebrating outstanding popular science books from around the world @InsightInvestIM https://t.co/dhlFsCQLNx pic.twitter.com/oCURZRAFXr — The Royal Society (@royalsociety) August 2, 2018 The 2018 Royal Society Insight Investment Science Book Prize has announced its shortlist: Inventing Ourselves: The Secret Life of the Teenage Brain by Sarah-Jayne Blakemore; The Unexpected Truth About…
Fields Medal theft
Reports are emerging of the disappearance of one of the Fields medals awarded today, to Cauchar Birkar. The official statement from the International Congress of Mathematics is reproduced below. The organizing committee of the International Congress of Mathematics (ICM2018) profoundly regrets the disappearance of the briefcase of mathematician, Cauchar Birkar, which contained the Fields Medal…
2018 Fields Medal Winners Announced
“A lot of the time, when you do Math, you’re stuck. But you feel privileged to work with it. You have a feeling of transcendence and feel like you’ve been part of something really meaningful.” – Akshay Venkatesh, 2018 Fields Medallist. The Fields Medal is awarded every four years to four mathematicians, in recognition of…
Bending the Law of Sines
For me, the above shape emerged when playing with a drawing compass. Of the two ancient tools, I preferred the compass over the straightedge. I was fascinated with the classical geometric constructions, the intersecting circles and arcs. As a simple personality test, preferring a compass over a straightedge might mean something: maybe roundabout-holistic-intuitive more…
The Big Internet Math-Off – The Final! Nira Chamberlain v Matt Parker
Well, this is it: the final of The Big Internet Math-Off. Just one more match stands between the two remaining competitors and their destiny: the title of World’s Most Interesting Mathematician (modulo the previously described factors of knowing me, interest in taking part, and availability in July to indulge my whimsy). Nira Chamberlain and Matt…