In 1978 Christopher Zeeman (later to become Professor Sir Christopher Zeeman) was the first Mathematician to host the prestigious Royal Institution Christmas Lectures, broadcast on the BBC, as it still is today. Christopher was the founder of, at that time still a fledgling but fast growing, Mathematics Institute at Warwick University (founded 1965). Out of that series of lectures grew the idea of hosting a series of masterclasses for interested school children.
Fast forward to the early noughties, and as a storage cupboard in the Maths Institute was being emptied I managed to save copies of worksheets from these masterclasses from being lost, specifically from the 1986 and 1987 era with authors of them being Christopher, Ian Stewart and other senior members of staff from those days (I actually started at Warwick as an undergraduate in 1988, but don’t recall being aware of these classes having happened at that time). I gave many of these a new lease of life when running maths summer schools for NAGTY and later IGGY. I remember one particular session where I had a room of 20 or so 14/15 year olds and we were looking at the maths of drawing in perspective (now chapter 7 of the book this post is about). In my mind this was one of Zeeman’s best worksheets, it looks at different aspects of geometry, lines and planes in 3D, and then at a point near the end brings all the different pieces into one “a-ha” moment.. “and this is how it all fits together and looks 3D”. At that point I had a whole room of teenagers go, in unison, “that’s really cool!” How amazing is that? At it’s core it just simple (boring?) geometry.
Now fast forward to 2024/5. Ian and I were having one of our regular coffee chats in the Department as we have been doing for many years. In the old days I would sit and listen to Ian and partner in crime Jack Cohen discuss their latest book edits, in time these would include the Science of Discworld series and on a couple of occasions also include the late great Terry Pratchett too! But I digress. I mentioned that I had all the old masterclass worksheets sitting in a folder on a shelf gathering dust (actually mostly chalk dust due to the blackboard in my office!). “Why don’t we collect them together in a book?” Ian suggested. And so we did!
Originally, true to its origins, we wrote for an audience of lecturers and teachers who may want to use it for putting on their own masterclasses, but once being picked up by Princeton University Press the emphasis changed to be more towards first year non-maths major University students in the US, although it does still suit it’s former purpose well enough.
I’ll write a follow up to this post with the finer details about the content nearer the publication date (February 9th 2027). In the meantime it can be pre-ordered through PUP, Amazon, Waterstones, Foyles and probably all other good book retailers! Paper and hard back versions available.
Title:
Mathematics Is Not a Spectator Sport: 10 Topics to Challenge and Engage
Contents:
- Prime Numbers and Modular Arithmetic
- Graph Theory
- Pick’s Theorem
- Continued Fractions
- Curves of Constant Diameter
- Computer Logic
- Projective Geometry and Perspective
- Fractals
- Knots and Links
- Catastrophe Theory
Details:
Publisher: Princeton University press
Publication date: February 9th 2027
ISBN: 9780691290096
RRP: Hardcover £84, Paperback £25
Publisher’s Blurb:
An exploration of ten intriguing areas of mathematics, from prime numbers and graph theory to fractals and knots
This engaging book invites readers to dive into ten intriguing topics often left out of the standard curriculum yet essential to the mathematical enterprise. It guides the mathematically curious—undergraduates emerging from their comfort zones, high school students bored by what they are taught in math classes, general readers hungry for a challenge—through concepts and problems that encourage the active, hands-on learning that leads to real understanding. In ten chapters, readers meet prime numbers, graph theory, Pick’s Theorem, continued fractions, curves of constant diameter, computer logic, projective geometry and perspective, fractals, knots and links, and catastrophe theory, including the broader mathematical and historical setting. Along the way, they build their cognitive toolkit, encountering such ideas as theorem, proof, and algorithm organically and in context. Each chapter includes two problem sets, with answers provided in a final chapter.
The authors, both prominent educators and mathematicians, invite readers to think deeply about the problems they investigate and to enjoy the process of searching for solutions.
