Double Maths First Thing shaves newsletters if and only if they don’t shave themselves Hello! My name is Colin and I am a mathematician on a mission to spread joy and delight in puzzles, problem-solving and practicing maths. I’m currently wading through the combinatorics of meteorology, which is another way of saying “this walk is…
Topics I taught this year
It’s been quite a year. We introduced a totally new mathematics degree course, redesigned from the previous version. In addition, restructures and people leaving meant there were fewer of us teaching on the maths degree. All this together means I’ve been teaching new topics aplenty this year. Now we’re at the end of teaching, I’m…
Double Maths First Thing: Issue 25
Double Maths First Thing has toothache. Hello! My name is Colin and I am a mathematician on a mission to spread joy and delight in figuring things out. And take my mind off of the dental work I had done yesterday. Send ibuprofen and puzzles. Among several reasons to celebrate the election of Nicușor Dan…
\(-e^{i\pi}\) to Watch: Nils Berglund
In this series of posts, we’ll be featuring mathematical video and streaming channels from all over the internet, by speaking to the creators of the channel and asking them about what they do. We spoke to Nils Berglund, whose YouTube channel features animations and simulations, “to show that mathematics and physics can be beautiful.”
Double Maths First Thing: Issue 24
Double Maths First Thing wishes it could be formatted as a square Hello! My name is Colin and I am a mathematician on a mission to spread joy and delight in figuring things out. The 11yo is doing SATs at the moment, which runs exactly counter to that goal. What runs parallel to the goal…
Maths events at Cheltenham Science Festival 2025
This is a guest post by Martin Whitworth. I am the organiser of Cheltenham MathsJam, and I am a fan of our local Cheltenham Festivals. In addition to successful Jazz, Music and Literature Festivals, they have an annual Science Festival with high profile presenters, this year from 3-8 June. The Science Festival always includes some…
Double Maths First Thing: Issue 23
Double Maths First Thing will sign autographs, form an orderly queue Hello! My name is Colin and I am a mathematician on a mission to spread joy and delight in mathematical practice. Last week, the Pseudorandom Ensemble gave our first performance, A Totally Normal Song live at the Clopen Mic Night. At the moment, the video is still up and…