Mathematical Stories

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Andrew Wiles and Fermat's last theorem

How a scribble in the margin of a textbook taunted mathematicians for centuries.

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Five minutes with...Andrew Wiles

The legendary Andrew Wiles talks about what it's like to do maths and how it's all about being creative. (Image © Heidelberg Laureate Forum Foundation / Flemming­ – 2016)

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Primes without 7s

James Maynard tells us why he is counting prime numbers that don't have 7 as a digit, and how he takes inspiration from ideas in music, engineering and science.

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Five minutes with ... Frank Kelly

Professor Frank Kelly uses mathematics to understand how large networks such as traffic systems or the internet behave. In this short interview he talks about some of his favourite mathematical moments, and why it's important to be prepared for new ideas to come out of the blue.

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5 minutes with...David Berman

David Berman researches string theory. In this short interview he talks about how mathematics gives us a language to describe the universe, letting us explore beyond what we can ordinarily imagine.

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Five minutes with...Nira Chamberlain

Nira tells us how solving difficult problems can be like fighting an invisible boxer, and how he loves the feeling of having succeeded — because "the harder the battle, the sweeter the victory!"

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Five Minutes with...Vicky Neale

Vicky explains how maths is an adventure that's really worth having.

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Five Minutes with...Carola-Bibiane Schönlieb

Carola tells us how the mathematics of image analysis finds applications in many areas, from medicine to ecology, and why it's so important to be creative.

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Five Minutes with...Katie Steckles

Mathematician Katie Steckles tells us about her favourite mathematical moments and why imagination is everything.

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George Boole and the wonderful world of 0s and 1s

Find out how a 19th century mathematician made modern computers possible

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7 Things You Need to Know About Prime Numbers

Watch this talk by Vicky Neale to discover some of the unsolved questions about prime numbers that mathematicians are working on today.

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Einstein, Relativity and Gravity Waves

Watch this talk by David Tong to learn more about Einstein's greatest achievement.

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Fighting flu

Find out how Julia Gog is using maths to fight influenza.

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Physical symmetry

Explore hidden symmetries with Emmy Noether.

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The compassionate statistician

Find out how Florence Nightingale used pictures to bring statistics to life.

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Bridges of Königsberg

Discover a completely new area of maths with Leonhard Euler.

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Numbers, toys and music

How a toy led Manjul Bhargava to a mathematical discovery.

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Einstein and curving spacetime

Meet Albert Einstein and his act of "pure creation".