Mathematics – Heritage – Education
“… a guest post from museum educator and mathematician Tom Briggs, about his session at last August’s Talking Maths in Public conference.”
Tags: mathematics, MathsComm, museums, writing
I was invited as a guest onto the first episode of Teachwire Talks, hosted by Helen Mulley. The episode, Are You Smarter than a Stoneage Engineer, puts me in conversation with Dr. Jennifer Wexler, Historian at English Heritage, to discuss how the prehistoric Stonehenge site can spark powerful learning in modern STEM classrooms.
Tags: education, mathematics, MathsComm, museums, online, podcast
“… if you get the chance to flick through a copy in a library or bookshop you will find your attention constantly being captured by a piece of mathematical history or a page from a book that you have heard of but never seen before”
– Chalkdust Editors
Tags: book, history, mathematics, MathsComm, writing
Next time you’re in a museum, gallery, library, or archive, keep an eye open for these mathematical themes!
Tags: blogpost, galleries, libraries, mathematics, MathsComm, museums, National Numeracy, online, writing
I presented my book, The Mathematicians’ Library, at the CILIP Unconference on October 3, 2025, to a receptive audience of library professionals. I shared my writing motivations and favorite stories, leading to about half the attendees purchasing a copy. The event had a packed schedule of engaging activities.
Tags: libraries, mathematics, MathsComm, talk
Far from an academic “maths book”, it is a book about maths; about the role that this most ancient of human endeavours has played in the development of humanity, and where its achievements have prompted – and been prompted by – growth in disciplines that many people in the modern world see as entirely separate.
Tags: books, history, mathematics, MathsComm, publications, research, writing
I was briefed to write a page on the subject of maths in museums, and how the objects and artworks they hold relate to our understanding of maths. That’s right up my street!
Tags: Art Quarterly, MathsComm, MathsInMuseums, museums, writing
A couple of weeks before the conference, I was contacted by the organising committee to see if I’d be up for running a Maths in Museums activity as one option amongst a handful, all aiming at facilitating networking between maths communicators who were winding down and gearing up for their journeys home.
Tags: Coventry, mathematics, MathsComm, MathsInMuseums, museums
