Year 11 and 12 discover fascinating real world applications of Mathematics

Year 11 and 12 Mathematics students enjoyed attending the Maths Inspiration Show, at West Road Concert Hall, which provided fascinating talks ranging from why circles are so beautiful to the mathematical solution to creating the perfect party or the perfect joke.

After a two-year, Covid-related break, the Maths Inspiration Show returned with full force, enabling students to apply curriculum topics (such as Pythagoras, vectors and conditional probability) to diverse real world applications, highlighting that there is so much more to mathematics than taking exams.

The event was hosted by Helen Pilcher, a scientist, journalist and comedian, who as one half of the stand-up duo Comedy Research Project, has spent hours deriving the mathematical formula for the perfect joke.

"The inspiring speakers and memorable topics provided students with a great insight into the application of Mathematics outside the classroom."

Ben Sparks somehow finds time to be a mathematician, musician and a public speaker. He thinks nothing of picking up his guitar and giving a brilliant rendition of the classic song Windmills of Your Mind, with its line: 'Like a circle in a spiral, like a wheel within a wheel' to prove mathematicians are not boring and even songs involve maths.

In an inspiring talk, Sophie Maclean suggested that everything is better in colour - including maths! She investigates how colouring and maths can work together, and the rules governing how we can colour things can apply to tricky real world conundra, including interior deisgn and party planning.

Finally, Hugh Hunt a Reader in Engineering at Cambridge University, shared his fascination with 'spinning things', including how a spinning ball bounces in curious ways. He also explained how spinning tops stand up and why rolling wheels don't fall over.

Maths at St Mary's