Wrong, But Useful

In this month’s episode of Wrong, But Useful, we are joined by maths communication superhero @stecks, who is Katie Steckles in real life. We discuss: Katie’s numerous and various activities as a maths freelancer, including maths busking and being a mathematician-in-residence at the Stephen Lawrence Gallery at the University of Greenwich. Number of the podcast: 145; it’s a factorion, like 1, 2 and 40585 (and no others). A discussion between @jussumchick, @colinthemathmo, @mrmattock, and dozens more on the difference between an expression, equation, formula and identity. The 1089 trick and the Magic Gopher @solvemymaths’s request for mathematical wows – tell […]

Sue de Pomerai joins Colin and Dave for this month’s episode of Wrong, But Useful. We discuss: Her work for FMSP and MEI and, previously as a teacher Sue’s alter ego, Ada Lovelace, and getting more young women into maths Colin writes books: he mentions Cracking Mathematics and some good reviews of The Maths Behind, both available wherever good books are sold. Statistics in the new A-Level Number of the podcast: 10,213,223, a self-describing number Colin is reading Genius at Play by Siobhan Roberts and has a review copy of Geometry Snacks by @solvemymaths and @panlepan. Dave has been in […]

This month’s episode is the 2017 MathsJam special. What we talked about: Some tables Some talks we liked (featuring @reflectivemaths, @ajk_44, @zoelgriffifths (of whom more later), @macaronique, @chalkdustmag, @pecnut, @mscroggs, @televisionduck, Andrew Russell) Dave talks to @pecnut about his favourite bits, how to dress to give a lecture, Catchphrase1, oblongs, … also, briefly, to @mb_whitworth (Martin Whitworth in real life) about how long a poem might take to put together. … then to @zoelgriffifths, who performs her poem “e, to thee, x” for us. (Zoe has asked us to mention that the video will not be available on the Big […]

In this month’s episode of Wrong, But Useful, Colin and Dave are joined by Special Guest Co-Host @pecnut, who is Adam Townsend in real life. Adam studies the behaviour of sperm in mucus, and chocolate fountains1 – when he’s not editing @chalkdustmag – Issue 6 of which is available now from chalkdustmagazine.com, or from a @mathsjam near you – the magazine for the mathematically curious. Number of the podcast is . @colinthemathmo explains why here. More on truncatable primes here. Colin has a new book available, wherever good books are sold – which Dave has actually read some of and […]

In this month's episode of Wrong, But Useful, Colin and Dave are joined by @niveknosdunk, who is Professor Kevin Knudson in real life. Kevin, along with previous Special Guest Co-Host @evelynjlamb, has recently launched a podcast, My Favorite Theorem The number of the podcast is 12; Kevin introduces us to sublime numbers, highly composite numbers, and several other fascinating dozen-related facts. We rant about the whole 6÷2(1+2) thing hashtag fakemaths, and try to rescue it with a thread on the obelus. @divbyzero also has a post about the whole thing. "Obvious" things. Broken patterns: Fermat primes, primes of the form […]

In this month's episode of Wrong, But Useful, we are joined by Special Guest Co-Host @jussumchick, who is Jo Sibley in real life. Colin's audio is unusually hissy in this one, which is why it’s a little late; he apologises for both inconveniences. We discuss: Jo's background and work with FMSP, and how she has jumped to incorrect conclusions about statistics. Number of the podcast: $\ln^5(2)$, which is approximately 0.160003 Factris and Sumaze Trial and Improvement, and numerical methods New A-level syllabus, technology in teaching, new GCSEs, new Core Maths. Maths in "real life" and Dave's idea for a new […]

In this month's edition of Wrong, But Useful, @reflectivemaths and I are joined by special guest co-host @dragon_dodo, who is Dominika Vasilkova in real life. We discuss: What maths appeals to a physicist. Dominika's number of the podcast: $0.110001000000000000000001…$, Liouville's constant, which is $\sum_{n=1}^\infty 10^{-n!}$, the first constant to be proved transcendental. Megaminxes Sad news: Fields Medallist Maryam Mirzakhani has died from cancer aged 40. Here is an interview with her from a couple of years ago.. We discuss our chances of winning next year's Fields Medals. Colin is too old, but Dave and Dominika are in the running. Colin […]

In this episode of Wrong, But Useful1: We're joined by @ajk_44, who is Alison Kiddle from NRICH in real life. We ask Alison: how long has NRICH been going? How do you tell which problems you've covered before? Colin's number of the podcast is 13,532,396,179 (he mistakenly calls it quadrillions rather than trillions, and sometimes transposes the 7 and 9 at the end. The fool.) Alison is NOT a trainspotter, but has just been to visit the new Cambridge North station and Shippea Hill, just to mess with statistics. See All The Stations for more! Rule 135 Dave has no […]

In this month's episode of Wrong, But Useful, @reflectivemaths1 and I are joined by consultant and lapsed mathematician @freezingsheep2. We discuss: Mel's career trajectory into 'maths-enabled type things that are not actually maths', although she gets to wave her hands a lot. What you can do with a maths degree, the dangers of 'this can lead you anywhere', and the shift from one perfect answer to something good enough. Construction-based metaheuristics for personnel scheduling problems, and what any of those words mean. Number of the podcast: 15,339,878. Euclidea, revisited, and measuring my dad's banister Dave has a joke. Short bits: […]

In this month's installment of Wrong, But Useful, our special guest co-host is @mathsjem (Jo Morgan in real life) from the indispensable resourceaholic.com. We start by talking about resourceaholic.com and how Jo manages to fit such a punishing blog schedule around being a nearly-full-time maths teacher. Colin wonders how writing has affected Jo's teaching practice. The number of the podcast is 530, an untouchable number. Apparently you peasants who carry money around are excited about the new £1 coin. Jo used to work at the Bank of England and has insights about how statistics can be applied to the circulation […]