Simon Singh's Marvelous Maths Lecture

On Friday 6 March we had the pleasure of welcoming renowned mathematics writer and broadcaster, and all-around mathematician extraordinaire, Simon Singh to Queen Anne’s School.

Simon, who has completed a PhD in particle physics at Cambridge University and at CERN, Geneva, is well known for his award-winning science and mathematics documentaries, as well as a number of bestselling books. Many students and members of staff brought along their books to be signed, and to take an excited selfie with the famous mathematician!

To begin, Simon introduced himself and his past achievements and endeavours. He described what he does now as “Trying to get other people as interested in maths and physics as I am!”

Simon spoke about the way our brains are influenced, and how when dealing with maths it is important to avoid this, before talking more in depth about one of his famous documentaries: ‘Fermat’s Last Theorem’.

Fermat was a French lawyer, for whom mathematics was merely a hobby, but is widely known as one of the most famous mathematicians who ever lived. Fermat’s Last Theorem states that xⁿ + yⁿ = zⁿ has no non-zero integer solutions for x, y and z when n > 2.

Every mathematical theory needs a proof: to prove that something is either possible or impossible. Although there is written evidence of Fermat stating “I have discovered a truly marvellous proof of this, which, however, the margin is not large enough to contain.”, the full proof was never shown.

The mathematical proof for Fermat’s Last Theorem was eventually found by British professor Andrew Wiles in 1993.

Simon played a clip from his documentary about Fermat’s Last Theorem, and the audience of students watched as Andrew Wiles became incredibly emotional when recalling the moment in which he finally solved the mathematical puzzle.

“When you start doing real maths, nobody knows the answer. It can be a little bit scary, a little bit exciting”

said Simon. “Andrew Wiles had been fascinated about this theorem since age ten, and so you can imagine how emotional it would feel to finally achieve a childhood dream.”

Simon then presented the problem of the ‘Seven Bridges of Königsberg’ to the students, and challenged them to find a proof – to prove whether the problem was possible or impossible to solve. This got all of the brains in the room ticking away, exploring mathematical possibilities from all angles in an attempt to find a proof. Simon helped and guided the students to the answer to prove that it was not in fact possible, after all!

Before taking some questions from the audience, Simon Singh spoke about some of his work on the popular television programme The Simpsons. “There is more maths in The Simpsons than any other prime time TV show!” he explained. In fact, many of the writers of The Simpsons have degrees and PhDs in mathematics. Simon showed some examples of The Simpsons’ mathematical jokes and secrets, including his own brief cameo as a cartoon character in the show!

As Simon Singh answered students’ questions, he also spoke about pursuing a career in mathematics and science, and the benefits that can come from this. He left the audience with one last exciting prospect:

“If you choose to study maths and science, there really is the opportunity to change how the world works.”

You can find out more about Simon Singh, his story and his work here.