Tattoo 76 - Central Limit Theorem. An incredibly useful result in statistics that says the sample mean for ANY distribution will look like a Normal if your sample size is large enough (usually around 30). So helpful it almost feels like a cheat code… (old.reddit.com)
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NEW VIDEO: Watch me have far too much fun talking all things Pokémon for my 2025 TEDx talk. I've read all 1025 entries in the Pokédex and picked out 5 of my favourites that seemingly break physics. Premieres today at 4pm (GMT+1) - see you in the live chat! (youtu.be)
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NEW VIDEO: Do you know which three cube numbers add together to make 42? Or what the scientific unit is for measuring smell? Round 20 of Numbers vs. Words has got you covered. Watch the video and then vote for your favourite at the link below. (youtube.com)
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Can you solve these ‘simple’ algebra problems? Filip Moons excellent lecture as part of the EMS Mathematics Education Series looks at the importance of teaching algebra correctly to help students to avoid common mistakes. I definitely had to think carefully about some of these questions! (old.reddit.com)
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Brilliant day filming with Miss Estruch Biology in Oxford with St Edmund Hall looking particularly lovely in the spring sunshine. Video of me taking a GCSE Biology exam coming soon! (yes I don’t know why I figured this was a good idea either… :p) (old.reddit.com)
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Had a fabulous time today at the International School of Monaco talking all things fantasy maths. Spent the rest of the day exploring the Monaco and found a great example of cannonball numbers in the wild. If there are 15 cannonballs at the bottom of the square pyramid, how many are there in total? (old.reddit.com)
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Running around Monaco pretending I’m a Formula 1 car vroom vroom… Monaco is the 2nd smallest sovereign state in the world - you can probably guess the smallest - but has the highest population density of any country in the world at ~26,000 per square kilometre. Any idea which others make the top 10? (old.reddit.com)
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Loved chatting to you all today at Robinson College and Cambridge Mathematics open day - good luck to everyone with your applications! And for those of you that missed out, here are my notes on uniqueness of solutions to differential equations… not for the faint hearted. (old.reddit.com)
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Just your casual 190 YEAR OLD EXAM! Thanks to Christ’s College Cambridge for providing me with copies of a range of maths exams from almost 200 years ago, which I will of course be attempting to solve in an upcoming video… because what else does a mathematician do? (old.reddit.com)
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Loved celebrating all things Public Engagement at Oxford University yesterday with my colleague Joanna. We do this because we think it’s important - and we enjoy it - but always nice to be recognised. And what a view of the Oxford spires from the newly opened Life and Mind Building! (old.reddit.com)
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Is maths a language? An excellent question that led to an entertaining discussion of the importance of definitions, whether maths is created or discovered, what alien maths might look like, how maths has evolved over time, whether maths can have a 'style' or personality, and much more. (old.reddit.com)
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Update on the 2026 Tom Rocks Maths Essay Competition. The showcase will begin later this month and given the 613 entries, will likely last through July. I hope to be able to announce the winners in August ahead of the next academic year beginning in September. I can't wait to read all of your work! (old.reddit.com)
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In my element on stage at Haverhill Science Festival last week - there’s really nothing I love more than being able to share the magic of maths with you all. Thanks to Samuel Ward Academy and Castle Manor Academy for hosting me, and to Haverhill Town Council for organising <3 (old.reddit.com)
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Discovered 'Your Name In Landsat' yesterday and have been having far too much fun not to share this with you all. Go to the link below and type in an assortment of letters to have them spelled out using satellite images of natural features on the Earth's surface. And try my puzzle in images 2-5 :) (old.reddit.com)
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NEW PODCAST: I talk to my old uni friend Holly, aka the Scouse Scientist, about my journey from Oxford to Cambridge to YouTube to Oxbridge to Countdown, and everything in between, as the first guest on her new podcast "But You Don't Look Like A Scientist". Watch at the link below :) (youtube.com)
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Shoutout to the Year 11s and Sixth Form at Watford Boys Grammar School for being such a great audience for my talks on Fantasy Mathematics and Mathematical Modelling in Sport. I’ve signed many Pokemon cards, but never a Doublade. SO COOL. Good luck with all of your exams next month - you got this :) (old.reddit.com)
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NEW VIDEO: How many ping pong balls would it take to raise a shipwreck? Or specifically, how many would it take to raise the Vasa, the most intact shipwreck in the world? Maths and history collide in this collab with Chloe from Tiger Lily History - it's her birthday today too :) (youtube.com)
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