Alan and Marcus Go Forth and Multiply

"Ever since he was at school, actor and comedian Alan Davies has hated maths. And like many people, he is not much good at it either. But Alan has always had a sneaking suspicion that he was missing out.
So, with the help of top mathematician Professor Marcus du Sautoy, Alan is going to embark on a maths odyssey. Together they visit the fourth dimension, cross the universe and explore the concept of infinity. Along the way, Alan does battle with some of the toughest maths questions of our age.
But did his abilities peak 25 years ago when he got his grade C O-Level? Or will Alan be able to master the most complex maths concept there is?"

In this BBC Horizon that I made with Alan Davies we started out taking as our model the Oz Clarke/James May programmes but instead of wine we did maths. I got to play the posh Oz Clarke character: "what a wonderful bouquet this equation has" while Alan could play the urbane James May of maths. But actually the thing soon evolved into a completely different journey. It waas a mathematical road-trip. From Weymouth to Brighton, from Teddington to...well, actually it was more a road-trip of the mind. From primes to probability, quantum chaos to hyperspace.

Alan is a clever guy. The village idiot role he plays on QI is just good acting. The director of our Horizon kept on saying: "Alan. Could you pretend you didn't understand the Riemann Hypothesis so quickly". Amazing what a national icon Alan is. Everywhere we went, people would flock to get his autograph. He was mugged by old grannies in Weymouth saying how much they loved Jonathan Creek to teenagers on Brighton Pier who knew him as the Dad in Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging. I kept thinking as I stood on my own on the sidelines: "but don't they know I've got a Theorem named after me."

The programme was broadcast on BBC2 at 9pm on the 31st of March 2009. It got 2.3 million viewers. Reviews were mixed but then reviewers love knocking Horizon. One really nice review was in the Sunday Times.

You can see some clips of the programme on the BBC website.

The maths of the beautiful game "During his journey to understand the often vilified science of maths, comedian and Arsenal fan Alan Davies hears that footballers are "mathematical geniuses" and learns how maths can help fans of the game."

Why maths lacks common sense "Comedian Alan Davies - who has hated maths since school - has embarked on a maths odyssey with the help of mathematician Marcus du Sautoy.
In a game of probability, he was challenged to put common sense aside in order to see the power of logical thinking." Here is an explanation of the infamous Monty Hall Game Show.

From Ecstasy to Infinity

I've spent the two month making a radio programme about the art and science of the baroque for BBC Radio 3 that is due to be aired this Sunday on the Sunday Feature.

The Baroque was always a style I'd associated with vulgarity and excess. But in this programme I’ve discovered how much control and structure underpins the spectacle of the baroque. The dramatic and sensational effects of the greatest baroque architects like Borromini and Bernini are founded on sound mathematical principles. Painters like Caravaggio and Rubens are battling with the same problems as Newton and Leibniz in their attempt to capture bodies in motion. And the extravagant sounds of Monteverdi and Bach would not be possible without the mathematical development of new ideas of temperament. It is my world of mathematics and science which allows the artist and musician to play with your emotions. Join me on my journey to the conversion of the delights of the baroque.

15 Mar 2009, 21:30 on BBC Radio 3

A Disappearing Number

I was the mathematical advisor on Complicite's play A Disappearing Number. PLUS magazine have just released a podcast including interviews with me about my collaboration.

You can see clips from the show at Complicite's website

I also helped devise workshops in connection with the play for maths and drama teachers. More details can be found in the Education section of Complicite's website

Too hard...?

Somebody just sent me this quote from Terry Prachett's Thief of Time. Susan is a teacher talking to her Head teacher:

"What precisely was it that you wanted madam?" she said. "It's just that I have left the class doing algebra and they get restless when the've finished".
"Algebra?" said madam Frout............"But that's far too difficult for seven-year-olds!"
"Yes but I didn't tell them that, and so far they havn't found out" said Susan....................

Story of Maths on BBC World

Our journey round the world to uncover the story of Maths is appropriately going to be shown on BBC World throughout January. The programmes originally broadcast on BBC4 in October and were available on BBC iPlayer but those outside the UK were unable to catch the series. Now is your chance.

SHOWING TIMES for Programme One: The Language of the Universe.
Showing Saturday 10th January at 0810 GMT.
Repeated: Saturday at 1810 GMT and Sunday 11th at 0210 and 1410 GMT.

If that isn't possible then the series is also available on DVD from the Open University although I'm afraid it is a little pricey which is a shame.

Exciting news: the BBC has chosen The Story of Maths as one of its entries for the Royal Television Awards in Science and History.

BBC World website

Behind the maths block

Many people emailed me after hearing Desert Island Discs to ask about what books did my teacher, Mr Bailson, recommend to me behind the back of the maths block when I was 12.

The book which had the biggest impact was

The Language of Mathematics. Frank Land. John Murray (Publishers) Ltd 1960.

You can read a description of the effect of this book on me in Chapter 1 of Finding Moonshine.

The other book which had a big impact probably at a slightly later stage was

A Mathematician’s Apology. G.H. Hardy. Cambridge University Press 1940.

This book made me realise that maths was as much a creative art as a useful science. I was very lucky to have the chance recently to work on Complicite's recent play A Disappearing Number based on the book.

The other thing my teacher recommended was reading Martin Gardner's regular column in Scientific American full of great recreational maths and puzzles. You can get many of these collected together into books.

We were also lucky to do something called the School Mathematics Project or SMP at my comprehensive school. The course taught us about group theory and topology and other exciting topics that count as real maths. I was fortunate to have a teacher who understood the ideas.

I was also lucky to go as a 13 year old to the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures in 1978 when they were first done on maths by Christopher Zeeman.

I was very honoured to be asked to give them my self in 2006. Called The Num8er My5teries they are aimed at 11-16 year olds. You can get a free DVD of the lectures from the Royal Institution and there is an accompanying website full of games

Christmas Lectures 2006

Also I am currently writing a book based on the lectures to be published in 2009 which I am hoping will make perfect material to recommend behind the back of the maths block. It will be called The Num8er My5teries.

Other books in addition to my own that do a great job at inspiring budding mathematicians:
Any book by Rob Eastaway, Ian Stewart, Robin Wilson or Keith Devlin.
The Number Devil by Hans Magnus Enzensberger.
1089 and All That by David Acheson.

Also look out for my regular column Sexy Maths in The Times on a Wednesday.

The Royal Institution run Mathematics Masterclasses for children which are worth checking out. Here is the link for the Masterclasses in London.

Desert Island Discs

You can hear me on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs at 9 am on Friday 12th December.

My choices:

1.Frühling-Spring
Performer Lucia Popp with the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Klaus Tennstedt
Composer Strauss
CD Title Strauss: Four Last Songs
Track 1
Label EMI
Rec No CD7470132

2.Fanfare for St Edmondsbury
Performer The Philip Jones Brass Ensemble
Composer Britten
CD Title British Music for Brass:The Philip Jones Brass Ensemble
Track 6
Label LONDON
Rec No 4303692

3 The Prelude to Wagner’s Parsifal
Performer The Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Herbert Von Karajan
Composer Wagner
CD Title Wagner: Parsifal
Track 1
Label DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON
Rec No 4133472

4.I Know a Bank from Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Performer James Bowman with The Trinity Boy’s Choir & the City of London Sinfonia conducted by Richard Hickox
Composer Britten
CD Title Britten: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Track Cd1 trk 6
Label VIRGIN CLASSICS
Rec No
VCD7593052

5.Joy of the Blood of the Stars from Messiaen’s Turangalila Symphonie
Performer The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Simon Rattle
Composer Messiaen
CD Title Messiaen:Turangalila-Symphonie
Track 5
Label EMI
Rec No 5865252

6 Look My Castle Gleams and Brightens
Performer Eve Marton & Samuel Ramey with the Hungarian State Orchestra conducted by Adam Fischer
Composer Béla Bartók
CD Title Béla Bartók: Bluebeard’s Castle
Track 6
Label CBS
Rec No CD44523

7.The second movement of Shostakovich’s String Quartet No.8
Performer The Brodsky Quartet
Composer Shostakovich
CD Title Shostakovich: Brodsky Quartet
Track 5
Label TELDEC
Rec No 2449192

8 The Many Rend the Skies with Loud Applause from the Alexander’s Feast
Performer The Bach Choir of Stockholm and Concentus Musicus of Vienna conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt
Composer Handel
CD Title Handel: Alexander’s Feast
Track cd2 trk 2
Label TELDEC
Rec No ZA835671

Record: Wagner’s Parsifal
Book: (instead of the Bible – Mahabharata).
The Glass Bead Game by Hermann Hesse
Luxury: My own trumpet