I was interviewed by Nira Chamberlain, President of the Mathematical Association. I am the twelfth person to whom he has asked his question “what is the point of mathematics?” Hoping to offer something a little different, I spoke about teaching students the role mathematical modelling can play in sustainability.
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- David Winton Harding, founder of the Winton Group, knighted for services to philanthropy – which includes funding the Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication, home of Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter.
- Owen Abbott, Head, Census and Population Statistics Methodology, Office for National Statistics. Appointed OBE for services to Census and Population Statistics.
- Veronica Bowman, Statistics and Data Science Fellow, dstl. Appointed OBE for services to defence and the Covid-19 response.
- Henrietta Brown, Business Operations Lead, Office for National Statistics. Appointed OBE for services to the Census of England and Wales.
- Nira Chamberlain, President, Institute of Mathematics and its Applications. Appointed OBE for services to mathematical sciences.
- Alexander Lambert, Deputy Director, Covid Infection Survey Operations, Office for National Statistics. Appointed OBE for services to statistics and public health.
- William Marks, Senior Policy Liaison, Analysis and Civil Contingencies Secretariat Dashboard, Cabinet Office and Office of National Statistics. Appointed OBE for public service.
- Lynne McClure, Director, Cambridge Mathematics. Appointed OBE for services to education.
- Kevin Sweeney, Lately Head, Central Survey Unit, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. Appointed OBE for public service, particularly during Covid-19.
- Arron Maspero, Programme Delivery Manager, Census Field Devices, Office for National Statistics. Appointed MBE for services to Census 2021 Field Operations.
Mathematicians on TV at Christmas, 2021
A surprising number of mathematicians (including some friends of the Aperiodical) have been on UK telly this Christmas!
Nira Chamberlain on University Challenge
Winner of the Big Internet Math-Off 2018, Nira Chamberlain, captained the Portsmouth University team in an episode of the University Challenge Christmas special (on iPlayer, and the episode on YouTube). We’re pleased to see that since his Math-off victory, Nira continues to introduce himself wherever he goes as ‘The World’s Most Interesting Mathematician’.
Paul and Katie on Only Connect again
Aperiodical editor Katie Steckles and site regular Paul Taylor, accompanied by fellow mathematician Ali Lloyd, appeared in the Only Connect Champion of Champions special as part of their team the Puzzle Hunters. Having won series 16 this year, they were invited back to take on the winners of series 15, the 007s. Watch out for at least one maths question! The episode is on iPlayer, and on YouTube.
Ri Christmas Lectures
This year’s lectures were on the science behind virology and the pandemic, and hosted by Professor Jonathan Van-Tam. As part of the second episode, mathematician Professor Julia Gog joined to explain how mathematical modelling can be used to study the spread of viruses, around 38 minutes in. (Slightly worryingly, JVT claims he isn’t any good at maths, so he had to get someone in to help explain it).
All three episodes are available on iPlayer, and will be added to the Ri YouTube channel once they come off there (around the beginning of Feb).
Particularly mathematical New Years Honours 2022
It’s that time of year when we take a look at the UK Government’s New Years Honours list for any particularly mathematical entries. Here is the selection for this year – any more, let us know in the comments and we’ll add to the list.
Get the full list here.
Second place in a single-elimination tournament
I made a silly joke, and it made me think.
You may be aware that our own Christian Lawson-Perfect is running the Big Internet Math-Off here at the Aperiodical, a single-elimination tournament with sixteen competitors. I was knocked out in round one by the brilliant Alison Kiddle. I joked that if Alison went on to win, then I’d be joint second.
Much as I like and respect @ch_nira, I’ll be rooting for @ajk_44. If she goes on to win the #BigMathOff final and is crowned The World’s Most Interesting Mathematician, then I’m joint-second, right? https://t.co/8Jt37gHFif
— Peter Rowlett (@peterrowlett) July 10, 2018
I’ve been mulling this over and I felt there was something there in thinking about the placement of the non-winners in such a tournament, so I had a play.
Black Mathematician Month: Closing Ceremony
Below is an article marking the end of Black Mathematician Month, written by the team at UCL. We’ve been participating in the project too, and we’ve found it a great opportunity to invite new authors to write for our site and to showcase black mathematicians from the UK and elsewhere. We’ve posted several articles during the month, and hope to continue to feature more diverse authors on the site going forward, with a few more posts anticipated soon.
To mark the end of the month, Dr Nira Chamberlain gave a lecture yesterday at UCL, and if you missed it, the event live-stream will be posted on the Chalkdust social media: Facebook / Twitter