Maths on the Move

• Rob Eastaway: Shakespeare's mathematical life and times

  One thing we all have in common is that we did maths at school. Those of us from the English speaking world most likely also did Shakespeare at school. Do these two things have anything in common? It turns out that they do! Our friend Rob Eastaway, author and Director of the amazing Maths Inspiration project, has written a book called Much Ado About Numbers: Shakespeare's mathematical life and times. In this episode of Maths on the Move, Rob tells us about some of the many instances of maths appearing in Shakespeare's work. He also tells us about the mathematical climate that Shakespeare lived in. Among other things, it included a mathematical revolution, saw music as a subfield of maths, and gave rise to the word "trivial" so much beloved by mathematicians. The book is out in paperback now.   To find out more about some of the topics mentioned in this episode, see the following links: The fabulous positional system is an article exploring the nature of our number system. Rob's Gresham College lecture explores some of the topics mentioned in this podcast and in his book. Maths Inspiration runs inspiring and interactive maths shows for teenagers. Finally, here are reviews of some of Rob's books: The hidden mathematics of sport (with John Haigh) Maths for mums and dads (with Mike Askew) More maths for mums and dads (with Mike Askew) How long is a piece of string? (with Jeremy Wyndham) Mindbenders and brain teasers (with David Wells) How to take a penalty (with John Haigh) How many socks make a pair?

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• Living proof: Diving into maths with Emmy Noether

  Every now and again, and more often than you'd think, the work of mathematics overlaps with the world of theatre and film. This happened again recently when the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences (INI) organised a staging of the play Diving into math with Emmy Noether. Noether was a pure mathematician whose results made waves far beyond her field. Albert Einstein called her a "creative mathematical genius".  The play is produced by Portrait Theater Vienna in co-operation with Freie Universität Berlin, directed by Sandra Schueddekopf, and features Anita Zieher as Emmy Noether. It was put on as part of the Modern History of Mathematics research programme that is currently taking place at the INI and the Inclusivity in the Mathematical Sciences workshop that was organised by the Newton Gateway to Mathematics in March 2025. In this episode of Maths on the move we talk to historian of mathematics David E. Rowe, who provided scientific advice for the play, about the life and work of Emmy Noether, and about what it's like putting mathematics on stage. You might also want to read our article Emmy Noether: A creative mathematical genius. This content was produced as part of our collaborations with the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences (INI) and the Newton Gateway to Mathematics. The INI is an international research centre and our neighbour here on the University of Cambridge's maths campus. The Newton Gateway is the impact initiative of the INI, which engages with users of mathematics. You can find all the content from the collaboration here.

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• The Abel Prize 2025

  Last Wednesday, March 26, 2025, this year's Abel Prize was awarded to the Japanese mathematician Masaki Kashiwara. The Abel Prize is one of the most prestigious honours in mathematics. It is awarded every year by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters and comes with a prize money of over £550,000. In this episode of Maths on the Move we talk to Helge Holden, Chair of the Abel Prize Committee. Helge tells us about this year's winner, the history and purpose of the Prize, and how the winners are chosen. He also tells us why good mathematicians are needed in all sectors of science and beyond, and talks about the tragic story of the mathematician Niels Henrik Abel, after whom the Prize is named. To find out more about some of the topics mentioned in this episode, see: The Abel Prize 2025: Masaki Kashiwara - An accessible look at some of Kashiwara's mathematics. The Chern Medal 2018: Masaki Kashiwara - Another look at Kashiwara's work written on the occasion of his winning the Chern Medal in 2018. What are groups and what are they good for? - An episode of the Maths on the Move podcast which explores group theory. Stubborn equations and the study of symmetry - An article which touches one of Niels Henrik Abel's most famous results. Journal für die reine und angewandte Mathematik - Also known as Crelle's journal, this publication is mentioned in the podcast.

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• Evidence week: Shaping the future of AI

  The UK government has recently pledged to put around £14 billion into supporting the development of artificial intelligence over the next few years.  But because AI comes with perils as well as promises, careful policy decision are going to be crucial. In order to make such decision in an informed way, politicians need to interact with the mathematicians and scientist who develop AI. In this episode of Maths on the Move we talk to mathematician Chris Budd who recently went to Parliament for something called Evidence Week, where he and other AI researchers talked with MPs and Peers from the House of Lords. Chris tells us about the discussions he had with politicians — about the worrying issue of bias in AI, its promising applications, for example in the medical arena, and also about the fact that AI is built on mathematics. A strong maths education, starting at primary school, is therefore essential if we're going to make the best of AI in the future. Chris is Professor of Applied Mathematics at the University of Bath, co-lead of the research project Maths4DL, and Director of Knowledge Exchange for the Bath Institute for Mathematical Innovation. He attended Evidence week with a team of researchers which included Yolanne Lee, a Maths4DL PhD student who recently featured in another Maths on the Move episode. The image above shows, from left to right, Dáire O’Kane (Maths4DL), Jenny Power (IMI), Yolanne Lee (Maths4DL), and Alexandra Freeman, Baroness Freeman of Steventon. To find out more about some of the topics discussed in this episode see AI be the judge: The use of algorithms in the criminal justice system Can AI help with breast cancer screening? Maths4DL AI policy brief: Black boxes of AI - watch maths open them This podcast was produced as part of our collaboration with the Mathematics for Deep Learning (Maths4DL) research programme. Maths4DL brings together researchers from the universities of Bath and Cambridge, and University College London and aims to combine theory, modelling, data and computation to unlock the next generation of deep learning. You can see more content produced with Maths4DL here.

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• Living proof: Communicating mathematics with the INI and Hannah Fry

  We kick off our latest series of podcasts with an episode of Living proof, produced jointly with the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences (INI). This episode is all about the communication of mathematics to the wider world, which is becoming ever more recognised as a priority within the maths community. We talk to Sara Khan, Communications Manager at the INI, about how this renowned research institute supports mathematics communication. And we revisit our interview with Hannah Fry who has just taken up her new role as Professor of the Public Understanding of Mathematics here at the University of Cambridge As Hannah puts it, "It's really important that people feel that [mathematics] is being done with them, not to them." We also find out about Hannah's own research in her previous role as Professor for the Mathematics of Cities at University College London, and hear about her favourite mathematical moment. To find out more about organisations and events in support of mathematics communication mentioned in this episode, see the following links: The Mathsci-comm network is funded by an INI Network grant and aims to connect those working in, and with a stake in, communicating complex mathematics and data science to a variety of non-expert audiences. The network is run by the Editors of plus.maths.org, Marianne Freiberger and Rachel Thomas, together with Maha Kaouri from the Newton Gateway to Mathematics Communicating mathematical and data sciences — what does success look like? was a workshop organised by the Mathsci-comm network, which took place at the INI in November 2024. Hannah Fry announced her move to Cambridge at this event. The Graduate training workshop for the Mathematical Sciences, organised by the Newton Gateway to Mathematics, took place at the INI in February 2025 and comprised a significant component dedicated to communication, delivered by the Editors of plus.maths.org, Marianne Freiberger and Rachel Thomas, together with Alison Kiddle and Katie Steckles. This followed a pilot event which took place in October 2024. Talking maths in public (TMiP) is a conference which runs in the UK every two years, for people who work in, or otherwise participate in, communicating mathematics to the public. TMiP 2025 will take place at the University of Warwick on 28th - 30th August 2025, with the option to participate online. This content was produced as part of our collaborations with the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences (INI) and the Newton Gateway to Mathematics. The INI is an international research centre and our neighbour here on the University of Cambridge's maths campus. The Newton Gateway is the impact initiative of the INI, which engages with users of mathematics. You can find all the content from the collaboration here.

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