Inspiring videos for maths teachers and students
These days, thanks to the internet, we are quite literally drowning in video content. It’s all around us. There’s so much of it, it can be hard to find the really good stuff. But fear not, we have done the hard work for you! So go, make a cup of tea and enjoy these enlightening, entertaining videos all about the beauty and wonder of mathematics.
Australian comedian and radio presenter Adam Spencer has an interesting hobby - he is obsessed with monster prime numbers. These numbers have millions of digits and mathematicians and machines are required to track them down. If you are fascinated by the beauty of numbers, you’ll enjoy this.
Meet Professor Tao, he’s considered one of the world’s finest current mathematicians. He had a Ph.D in Mathematics from Princeton at age 20 and was appointed Professor of Mathematics at UCLA at 24. Impressive, right?
When it comes to remarkable coincidences, like twins who died on the same day, or a woman who won the lottery four times, how would a mathematician go about dissecting these? In this video from Vox, mathematician Joseph Mazur talks about about his book, Fluke, in which he explores this very subject.
Dan Finkel says that “math can be the best of times and the worst of times”, depending on whether you’re a good maths student or not. In this perspective-expanding and enjoyable talk with TED Talks, Dan Finkel shares his Five Principles of Extraordinary Math Teaching. He wants maths teachers to inject courage, curiosity, and a sense of play into their classrooms.
This is Arthur Benjamin. He is known as a “mathemagician”. He enthralls large crowds with his high-speed mental calculations. In fact, he’s able to calculate faster than a calculator! He’s also skilled at memorising facts and figures. How fast can you calculate in your head? Do you think you could give him a run for his money?