Talking Maths in Public (in Museums)

FAO: [Remote TMiP Attendees] [Anyone thinking ‘ohhhwuh, I wish I could’ve taken part in that 🙁’]

Your Talking Maths in Public (in Museums) mission (should you choose to accept it) is to…

… explore the museum with your maths hat on: seek, locate and describe some of the fascinating mathematical ideas hiding just below the surface.

Mission…

Seek

Explore the museum in your own way: bounce excitedly from object to article; or go through every object and panel methodically with a fine-toothed comb: whatever’s your style is fine. But make sure your mathematical eye is open, and ready to spot mathematical threads poking out…

… so that you can pull on them.

Locate

Need some ideas?

Describe

Think about the maths you’ve found, and why it’s worth sharing. These questions might help (you don’t have to be able to answer them all):

  • How visible is the maths you have found?
  • Would someone who isn’t a self-confessed maths-fan spot it?
  • Has the museum done anything to draw visitors’ minds to the fact that mathematical ideas are near?
  • What’s the tiniest, simplest thing they could add or change to highlight the maths connection?
  • Why do you care about that maths that you’ve found?
  • Are there other things in the museum that might reinforce this mathematical idea, or provide opportunities to see it from a different angle or in a different light?
  • How might it relate to the life, experiences, or interests of someone who isn’t (yet) a maths fan?

Consider writing notes or taking photos!

… Accomplished:

Share your findings!

  • Send them to me! (Don’t forget to let me know which bits you are/aren’t happy for me to use and share: I’d like to collate them with a view to sharing with the museum and with the wider maths & heritage communities).
  • Share them on social media:
    • Include #TMiPinMuseums to help other people find your thoughts!
    • Mention me so I can read/boost: @TeaKayB@Mathstodon.xyz or @TeaKayB.mathsy.space (& a couple of others)
    • Mention TMiP too: @TMiP@Mathstodon.xyz or @TMiP.bsky.social
    • Maybe even mention the museum!
    • Don’t forget ALT text for any images you share (with permission to do so from anyone caught in shot!)
    • Some other useful hashtags if you have space are #MathsToday, #MathsInMuseums, & #MuseumEd. Remember to use #CamelCase for hashtags!

Thank you!

Join in!

See what others are posting about this on BlueSky, Mathstodon / The Fediverse, Facebook & LinkedIn. Don’t forget to share anything you find interesting or thought-proviking!

Are you sharing on a platform that’s not listed here? Send me a link to the #TMiPinMuseums feed and I’ll add it.

Remote TMiP attendees:

TMiP attendees who are not physically with us in Coventry can still take part: you can join a breakout room to join in with the introductory chat and post-mission catch-up. The mission itself can be completed remotely in one of three ways:

Literally anybody at any time, ever:

Feeling gutted that you weren’t at TMiP and couldn’t take part? Or that you were at TMiP but chose to do something else on Saturday morning? Or maybe you were at TMiP and you did take part, but you’re experiencing a certain wistfulness about it all?

Not a problem! Simply head out to any museum, gallery, or heritage site at any time (please make sure they’re open and accepting visitors before you leave…), or load up their website, and do some maths-spotting! Post about it on the social networks of your choice (don’t forget to let Tom know about it), write a Blog post about it (Tom’s happy to host well-written posts at tommaths.blogspot.com if you don’t have your own Blog), or just share it with Tom directly.

Some context:

This page is intended as a quick-reference for attendees of the Talking Maths in Public (TMiP) conference, 2025, who are taking part in the Saturday morning Finding Maths in Museums networking activity. Many thanks to Coventry Transport Museum for providing access to run this activity, and to TMiP for thinking it might be worth running.

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