Weirder Maths

Even the most enthusiastic of maths students probably at one time wondered when exactly it would all prove useful in ‘real life’. Well, maths reaches so far and wide through our world that, love it or hate it, we’re all doing maths almost every minute of every day.

David Darling and Agnijo Banerjee go in search of the perfect labyrinth, journey back to the second century in pursuit of ‘bubble maths’, reveal the weirdest mathematicians in history and transform the bewildering into the beautiful, delighting us once again.

David Darling is a science writer, astronomer and tutor. He is the author of nearly fifty books, including the bestselling Equations of Eternity. He lives in Dundee, Scotland.

Agnijo Banerjee is one of the world’s most outstanding young mathematicians and a former student of Darling’s. At the age of thirteen he attained the highest possible score on Mensa’s IQ test and in 2018 he came joint first in the International Mathematical Olympiad, becoming the first person from the UK to obtain a perfect score in 24 years. He was born in Kolkata, India, but has spent most of his life in Scotland. He is now continuing his studies at Trinity College, Cambridge.