Talk by Simon Singh and Marcus du Sautoy

Links:

ucl.ac.uk/lims/" target="_self">UCL Lighthill Institute of Mathematical Sciences

Simon Singh

Marcus du Sautoy

Two of the UK's leading science communicators presented entertaining talks on presenting mathematics through the media at UCL on 14 November 2007.

The evening was organised by the UCL Lighthill Institute of Mathematical Sciences (LIMS) and the London Mathematics Centre with support from the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics.

Dr Simon Singh talked about making his programme for the BBC Horizon series entitled 'Fermat's Last Theorem', based on his book of the same name. He discussed some tricks used by programme-makers to turn a seemingly inaccessible topic into an effective and engaging programme. Dr Singh specialises in writing about mathematical and scientific topics in an accessible manner. He has authored books and produced programmes about cryptology and the Big Bang and is a regular contributor to newspaper columns.

After Dr Singh's talk, UCL's Lord Julian Hunt presented awards to the winners of a poster competition for A-level students. Amandeep Kalra and Kedi Huang from Richmond-upon-Thames College for their poster 'The World's Simplest Card Trick' and Melissa Abraham from B6 Sixth Form College, Hackney, for her poster 'Maths Odds, the Evens in Football'.

Professor Marcus du Sautoy shared tips on writing with the audience, referring to his highly acclaimed book 'The Music of Primes'. Professor du Sautoy writes for 'The Times' and 'The Guardian' and makes regular contributions to television and radio. The Professor ofMathematics at the University of Oxford was named in 'The Independent on Sunday' as one of the UK's leading scientists.

To find out more, use the links at the top of this article

Image: Professor du Sautoy (left) and Dr Singh