Free webinar aiming to help teachers "energise learning" of fractions in their classrooms. Aimed at teachers of students in Key Stages 2 & 3: https://www.cambridgemaths.org/events/view/maths-week-england-2025/ #MathsToday #Maths #teaching

Little history of maths question: do you know of any old examples of mathematical publications using colour? Before 1950, say. Byrne's Euclid is the obvious example. I don't consider a painting to be "a publication". I mean printed pages, really.

I've got a spare copy of Very Short Introductions: Particle Physics, in case it's of interest: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/146953253461

If you see an interesting & mathsy article (blog, video, podcast ep, whatever) posted in November don't forget to submit it to the Carnival of Maths in time for December's edition! https://aperiodical.com/carnival-of-mathematics/

There's an old saying in software that the first 90% is easy, it's the second 90% that's hard. I feel like LLMs make the first 70% easy and the second 140% impossible.

In case anyone's wondering what kind of day I'm having, I just tripped over a "warning: slippery floor" sign.

David Hilbert, hearing that a student had dropped maths to study poetry: "Good! He did not have enough imagination to become a mathematician." (From Genius at Play, by Siobhan Roberts, p.292)

I won't be bringing these to sell at Big MathsJam because it would be against the spirit of the thing, but if anyone's going AND would like a copy of The Mathematicians' Library AND would like to save on postage, I'm not above an illicit exchange in the car park […]

Drop me a line if you'd like a signed copy of The Mathematicians' Library for £25 (+ £5 p&p in the UK, unless you can pick it up from Milton Keynes!) A big, chunky hardback book with glossy pages and full-colour pictures throughout: a perfect gift for the slightly nerdy bookworm in your life!

November's Carnival of Maths (#245) is up now, hosted at Theorem of the Day: https://www.theoremoftheday.org/SpecialEvents/CoM245.html Next month's will be hosted by... Me! #mathstoday

Drop me a line if you'd like a signed copy of The Mathematicians' Library for £25 (+ £5 p&p in the UK, unless you can pick it up from Milton Keynes!) A big, chunky hardback book with glossy pages and full-colour pictures throughout: a perfect gift for the slightly nerdy bookworm in your life!

Interesting question from 11yo Young Bill: what's the 'average' of a circle and a square? After a couple of questions, he clarified that he meant in terms of distance from their common centre, and he (quite impressively, imo) built the thing in Geogebra. I've […] [Original post on mathstodon.xyz]

Merry Christmas everyone! [If you have to explain the very niche number base joke it's not funny, right?]

Another kid told me that if you walk around its perimeter three times backwards at midnight, it'll tile periodically.

"Actually, I don't mind if you call me Frankenstein. I'm more bothered that you think of me as a monster."

Not sure how many electric #guitar players I'm connected to here, but I'm looking for some recommendations... Essentially, something that takes up very little space that I can use as a headphone practice amp or plug into a PA system/mixing desk. So, basic amp modeling with balanced output plus […]

I've just spoken to an ex-colleague (maths teacher) who's in charge of the main display outside the maths staff office. She'd been asked by students about what she's been reading recently & got into a discussion with them about Jane Austen. Even more recently she's been flicking through my book […]

I quite liked the juxtaposition of this copy of The Mathematicians' Library with another book, in Blackwell's yesterday. I spotted 4 copies altogether - that's the second-most I've seen together in the wild, outside my living room!

Spotted this in a second-hand bookshop in Oxford and couldn't really leave it there. If the intersection of maths and history (and its possibilities for enriching education) seem like it might hold some interest for you, join in the discussion via historyand.mathsy.space #mathstoday 🏛️🎓

I went to an interesting talk last night with the Oxford History of Maths Forum: "Will mechanisation change research mathematics?", looking at AI's potential effect on research, compared with work developing computers in the 1940s. Abstract here […]

5 things museums, galleries and libraries don’t tell you about maths (but probably should) Next time you're in a museum, gallery, library, or archive, keep an eye open for these mathematical themes! […]

If anyone was thinking of getting a SIGNED copy of The Mathematicians' Library for someone for Christmas, I have 42 copies ready and raring to go: £25 (+ £5 delivery in the UK unless you can pick it up from Milton Keynes). As always, a boost of this post would be much appreciated 😁

A couple of people have (very kindly) asked how they might support me as a first-time author, having read my book and enjoyed it. Here are some ideas: - Leave a shining rating or even a review somewhere (e.g. wherever you bought it from; @thestorygraph.com, Goodreads) - Tell other people about […]

What would you add to this list? #MathsToday 🏛️🎓

"... --- .-. .-. -.-- / .. .----. .-.. .-.. / - -.-- .--. . / - .... .- - / .- --. .- .. -." said Tom, remorsefully.

There are five members of the regular cast of Ghosts who have not appeared on Taskmaster. #JustSaying (Please append 'UK' to any of the words above should it make you more comfortable).

Proper vanishing point! (Don't worry, I checked carefully for trains.)

I think The Mathematicians' Library would make a great Christmas present for the nerdy bibliophile who's into history in your life, and a *signed* copy would be even better... ... but has everyone who's going to buy a copy from me already done so? Is it […] [Original post on mathstodon.xyz]

Me & The Mathematicians’ Library – Talk for CILIP Unconference 2025 I presented my book, The Mathematicians' Library, at the CILIP Unconference on October 3, 2025, to a receptive audience of library professionals. I shared my writing motivations and favorite stories, leading to about half the […]

Whilst I'd definitely recommend buying it in its physical form (it's truly lovely) and not from Am*z*n, it'd be remiss of me not to mention that the Kindle edition of The Mathematicians' Library is currently on sale for a cracking £5.99: https://amzn.to/3WHq8Ct [I get exactly £0 from every sale […]

How to Start Exploring Maths in your Gallery, Library, Archive or Museum – a Resource for Maths Week England "The resource uses a story-first approach to promote richer experiences and telltale signs that maths is nearby, and highlights things that have been found to be necessary prerequisites […]

I was heckling in Gaelic late one night Because his scansion was lousy and his rhymes were trite He came into the crowd (which I thought unwise) And suddenly, to no-one's surprise We did stramash We did the Mòd stramash

Something I thought at #mathsconf39: I know music teachers who're in choirs; English teachers who read (voraciously) at home; PE teachers in football teams; & history teachers who often visit museums. But most maths teachers I know don't go anywhere near the subject when they're not working.

Another theme that poppee up a few times at #mathsconf39: reclaiming maths as something to enjoy as a hobby, rather than just a subject that we only engage with as part of our jobs. If you're someone who'd like to explore that, I wholly recommend looking up your local MathsJam: MathsJam.com

During our #mathsconf39 session, Jason and I revealed our new project: The History and Maths in Education Network ( historyand.mathsy.space ) which aims to facilitate discussion and sharing of resources & ideas amongst folks interested in using history themes to enrich maths education. The main […]

I have arrived in London for tomorrow's #MathsConf39! While my session isn't a sales pitch for my book, I *may* have some copies stowed away in my bag (and a Sharpie) in case anyone's interested...

[Food pic] This was breakfast. #longgonefood

Getting ready to watch tonight's free lecture live from Gresham College: How Does Mathematics Last? Heritage and Heritage Making in Mathematics: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/whats-on/heritage-maths (Starts at 6pm, still time to register!)

New freelance opportunty 📣 MonLife Heritage, funded by the Anti Racist Wales Culture Fund. 🔗Find out more: gem.org.uk/jobs/freelan... #GEM #freelancerwrok #museumfreelancer #heritagefreelancer

My #MathsConf39 workshop choices: 1 - Parsa Hassan-Yazdi 2 - @mrlevmaths.bsky.social & Shane Steele 3 - Robin Harris & Greg Thomas 4 - Georgina Green 5 - Jason Yip & @TeaKayB.mathsy.space Join me with @lasalleed.bsky.social, get your ticket here: completemaths.com/community/mathsconf39

Prescient, Douglas. Prescient.

I have a question for mathematicians out there... Start with a square 100 km on a side. An inhabitant of this square has two ways to travel: walking, which can be done from any point to any point at a pace $p_w$ seconds per kilometer, or going by a train which needs laid-down tracks but goes […]

It's that time again when we ask you all for feedback to help us improve #MathsWeekScot 🙏 We have one feedback form for teachers & educators: www.surveymonkey.com/r/MWS2025-Te... And one for all other participants: www.surveymonkey.com/r/MWS2025-Pa... Deadline to respond is 12 October. Thank you!

📣 New job posting! The Outer Hebrides Wildlife Festival Working Group is seeking a legacy workshop facilitator. Closing Date: 31/10/25 🔗 Find out more: gem.org.uk/jobs/outer-h... #GEMjobs #museumjobs #heritagejobs

I've just come up with a sequence I can't believe isn't in the #OEIS (#icbinioeis#oeis! Take cards labelled 1 ... N. Shuffle them. Repeat this procedure: look at the top card's value, X. Move X cards from the top of the deck to the back, one at a time. If you ever end up back at your first card […]

A quick bit of #Maths in #Museums: The shape of castles and their keeps and towers. https://tommaths.blogspot.com/2025/10/maths-in-museums-castle-keeps-and-their.htm #MathsToday #museumed

I can't be too upset by people not booking my session at #MathsConf39 because they're all booking sessions that I really want to go to instead!

From another review of The Mathematicians' Library (Amazon): "I’m in no way a maths nerd but I’m engrossed in this book. It is fascinating and I’ve learnt so much from it so far. I’ve actually found myself going online and reading up on some of the more interesting section like fractals as well […]

My mum's dog (say hello to Dylan) likes to curl up for a sleep behind the curtain, but he does it so often the curtain needs cleaning more often than mum would like, so she made two drawstring bags out of the same material and washes them instead. Genius!