Throughout March, we were treated to the annual series of maths lectures given by talented mathematicians from highly varied backgrounds in the world of maths, joined by students from other schools across Sutton.

The first lecture was delivered by Simon Singh, a name familiar to anyone with a serious interest in mathematics! He delivered a passionate and enthralling lecture into the little-known world of cryptography, ranging from the use of enigma machines by the Axis forces in the Second World War to the work of talented mathematicians and codebreakers at Bletchley Park in Britain in combatting such machines. He even brought in his own enigma machine! His skilful storytelling about how the enigma machines worked captivated the audience, but also managed to weave the narrative between history and mathematics by describing vividly the upheavals faced by the codebreakers. Given that 10 plugs could be used to connect 20 letters out of a possible 26, there would be a total of roughly 150 trillion variations—a staggering number. He finished his lecture by portraying the fascinating work undertaken by code breakers and the toil they must have experienced, with a new enigma code at midnight every day, but the messages decoded undoubtedly saved tens of thousands of lives, demonstrating the importance of cryptography and mathematics to our current way of life.

For the second lecture, Wilson’s School had the honour of hosting Professor Richard Thomas for the first time. His theme of ‘Thinking Slowly’ may have seemed counterintuitive for Wilson’s students, who often work at lightning speeds on tasks, but throughout the course of his lecture, the value of just slowing down and viewing problems became evident. In perhaps a first for Maths Circle Lectures, the level of interactivity was massively boosted through the audience interaction on every single question, which could be answered on devices. For example, the deceptively easy question ‘I weigh 44kg plus half my weight; how much do I weigh in total?’ appeared straightforward and yet around 70% of the audience got it wrong! This humbling experience taught many that no matter the level of intellect, one was still liable to fall into traps and the necessity of caution and understanding a problem from multiple angles—both in mathematics but also in other mediums. Professor Thomas followed up with many more puzzling problems, such as the classic jury question regarding the innocence of convicted individuals and deceptive nature of how guilty they could be based on statistics. The conclusion of the lecture was characterised by a few final warnings and teachings on the importance of ‘Thinking Slowly’ due to the real-life ramifications it could bring.

Simon Singh; Richard Thomas

Finally, last but certainly not least, was our very own Dr Cooper (banner photo, top), delivering his final lecture before retirement. A consistent theme throughout this series of lectures was the link to real world application but Dr Cooper epitomised this idea by talking all about ‘Maths in Action’. His referral to his own PhD thesis regarding mathematics and biology captivated what was the most passionate and eager audience yet giving a glimpse into the linked worlds of Mathematics and Biology. His continuation onto seemingly terrifying equations linking the movement of wind across the earth and subsequent dismantling into much simpler equations, symbolic of what students can achieve when unstoppable problems are broken down. Finally, he gave his insights into the invisible world of mathematics and how it affects the world.

Overall, all three lectures helped to enrich learning and insight into the convoluted world of mathematics and how translatable it can be to other problems in all facets of life.