Double Maths First Thing is HORRIFIED and you should be too. Hello! My name is Colin and I am a mathematician on a mission to spread joy and delight, so obviously I’m going to start with something awful: I recently learned that a “one-year flood” is not remotely the same thing as a “365-day flood”.…
Double Maths First Thing: Issue 21
No dragons were harmed in the making of Double Maths First Thing. Hello! My name is Colin and I am a mathematician on a mission to spread joy and delight in numerical noodling, patterny playfulness and generally messing about with maths. This week I’m back at my desk after a long Easter break. There are…
Double Maths First Thing: Issue 20
Double Maths First Thing doesn’t look an issue older than 1F Hello! My name is Colin and I am a mathematician on a mission to spread joy in the creativity and beauty of maths, in the delight of figuring things out and asking more questions. This week, I’ve been playing with continued fractions, and finally…
“When numbers have meaning it makes it a lot easier for me” vs “I over think the given information and confuse myself”: do engineering students prefer maths questions in context?
In 1693, Christiaan Huygens was struggling to learn the new calculus developed by his former student Gottfried Leibniz. He wrote to Leibniz asking for “any important problems where they should be used, so that this give me desire to study them”. Ever since, ‘when will I ever use this?’ is a common refrain, especially among…
A bit of inspiration from #MathArtMarch
This is a guest post by Elinor, who’s been collecting her favourite maths art from the month of March. March is a month of change in the UK: the days get longer, the temperature is slowly creeping upwards, and we start to believe that spring may be arriving. Through this month of change I have…
Carnival of Maths 238
The next issue of the Carnival of Mathematics, rounding up blog posts from the month of March 2025, is now online at Fractal Kitty. 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: Issue 1F
Double Maths First Thing only exports lost puffins Hello! My name is Colin and I am a mathematician on a mission to spread joy and delight, and to find excuses to do interesting maths. (If you could use an interesting mathematician — for the purpose of solving problems, slinging code, writing content or making the…