St Mary's Calne
This week's Sixth Form Lecture was The Creation of Number?, an entertaining overview of the origins of mathematics and numbers presented by Ben Sparks. Ben is a mathematician, musician and public speaker who gives maths talks and workshops around the world. He regularly works with the Numberphile YouTube channel where his videos have been watched over 12 million times and he runs his own YouTube channel called SparksMaths.
Here, members of the Sixth Form report on the lecture:
'Ben had a true love of the subject which was shown through his enthusiasm, making it a very engaging speech that got everyone involved and question many things. From how A4 paper continues to remain the same shape despite folding it in half, to whether numbers were created or discovered, Ben showed that maths is not just what you learn for your exams. He showed us the value maths has in society and explained that England is one of the few countries that doesn't make children study maths up until the age of 18.' Anna W, UVI
'Ben Sparks’ fascinating lecture on the creation of maths summarised the importance and underappreciated side of the subject and how it vitally impacts our everyday lives. Form Ben’s journey through the origins of rational, irrational, and imaginary numbers, we learnt that there is still so much to be discovered and our numerical values will continue to expand and evolve. From explaining why A4 papers specific measurements are so precise to the wonder of the Mandelbrot set, the lecture was both fun and engaging for those studying maths or not.' Daisy M, UVI
'Ben Sparks gave an extremely engaging and entertaining talk on the creation of numbers. By looking at the history of mathematicians and the discovery of numbers, it really made us wonder where numbers came from and whether they were discovered or created. Considering we use numbers every day, it was eye opening; this is certainly something that I will remember.' Judy F, UVI