In this talk, Admissions Guru James Munro explains how we teach, how you can apply and what your Oxford mathematical life might be like. Our Open Days are intended to give an insight in to Maths at Oxford, whether you are a potential applicant or are just curious.
In this Public Lecture, which contains more technical content than our norm, John Bush presents seemingly disparate topics which are in fact united by a common theme and underlaid by a common mathematical framework. First there is the natural world where creatures use surface tension to support themselves on the water surface and propel themselves along it. Then there is a small droplet bouncing along the surface of a vibrating liquid bath, guided or 'piloted’ by its own wave field - its ability...
In this fascinating and provocative lecture, Marcus du Sautoy both tests our ability to distinguish between human and machine creativity, and suggests that our creativity may even benefit from that of the machines. The Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets.
An old-fashioned tale of tale of romance and estrangement, of hope and despair. Graham Farmelo's Oxford Mathematics Public Lecture charts the 350 year relationship between Mathematics and Physics and its prospects for the future. Might things be less dramatic in future? Might they just have to be 'going steady' for a while? Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets.
The third in our popular series of filmed student lectures takes us to Integration. This is the opening lecture in the 1st Year course. Ben Green both links the course to the mathematics our students have already learnt at school and develops that knowledge, taking the students to the next stage. Like all good lectures it recaps and points forward.
Knots are a familiar part of everyday life, for example tying your tie or doing up your shoe laces. They play a role in numerous physical and biological phenomena, such as the untangling of DNA when it replicates. However, knot theory is also a well-developed branch of pure mathematics. In his talk, Marc gives an introduction to this theory and places it in the context of the modern field of topology. This is the branch of mathematics where you are allowed to stretch and deform objects, but not ...
Knots are a familiar part of everyday life, for example tying your tie or doing up your shoe laces. They play a role in numerous physical and biological phenomena, such as the untangling of DNA when it replicates. However, knot theory is also a well-developed branch of pure mathematics. In his talk, Marc gives an introduction to this theory and places it in the context of the modern field of topology. This is the branch of mathematics where you are allowed to stretch and deform objects, but not ...
The Oxford Mathematics educational experience is a journey, a journey like any other educational experience. It builds on what you learn at school. It is not unfamiliar and we don't want it too invisible. But it has aspects that are different. One of these is the tutorial system. Students have lectures. But they also have tutorials based on those lectures where they sit, usually in pairs, with a tutor, go through their work and, critically, get to ask questions. It is their tutorial. Having stre...
For the first time ever, Oxford Mathematics has live streamed a student lecture. It took 800 years but now you can see what it is really like. We hope you find it familiar and intriguing and challenging. James Sparks is Professor of Mathematical Physics and Director of Graduate Studies (Research).
Prime Numbers are fascinating, crucial and ubiquitous. The trouble is, we don't know that much about them. James Maynard, one of the leading researchers in the field explains all (at least as far as he can). Oxford Research Professor James Maynard is one of the brightest young stars in world mathematics at the moment, having made dramatic advances in analytic number theory in recent years. The Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets.
In some of the world’s rivers, an incoming high tide can arrive as a smooth jump decorated by undulations, or as a breaking wave. The river reverses direction and flows upstream. In this lecture Michael Berry explains tidal bores via analogies with tsunamis, rainbows, horizons in relativity, and ideas from quantum physics; the concept of a ‘minimal model’ in mathematical explanation; different ways in which different cultures describe the same thing; and the first unification in fundamental phys...
Much is written about life as an undergraduate at Oxford but what is it really like? As Oxford Mathematics's new first-year students arrive (273 of them, comprising 33 nationalities) we thought we would take the opportunity to go behind the scenes and share some of their experiences. Our starting point is a first week lecture. In this case the second lecture from 'An Introduction to Complex Numbers' by Dr. Vicky Neale. Whether you are a past student, an aspiring student or just curious as to how...
With topics ranging from prime numbers to the lottery, from lemmings to bending balls like Beckham, Professor Marcus du Sautoy provides an entertaining and, perhaps, unexpected approach to explain how mathematics can be used to predict the future. We are very grateful to Solihull School for hosting this lecture. The Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets
Marcus du Sautoy and Professor Rosalind Picard for 2018's annual Simonyi Lecture: Can we build AI with Emotional Intelligence? Today’s AI can play games, drive cars, even do our jobs for us. But surely our human emotional world is beyond the limits of what AI can achieve? In this year’s Annual Charles Simonyi Lecture, Professor Rosalind Picard challenges that belief. Robots, wearables, and other AI technologies are gaining the ability to sense, recognize, and respond intelligently to human emoti...
In our Oxford Mathematics London Public Lecture Roger Penrose in conversation with Hannah Fry reveals his latest research, a veritable chain reaction of universes, which he says has been backed by evidence of events that took place before the Big Bang. With Conformal Cyclic Cosmology he argues that, instead of a single Big Bang, the universe cycles from one aeon to the next. Each universe leaves subtle imprints on the next when it pops into being. Energy can 'burst through' from one universe to ...
In this lecture Roger Penrose uses M.C Escher's work to illustrate and explain important mathematical ideas and their connections to the visual arts. Roger Penrose's work has ranged across many aspects of mathematics and its applications from his influential work on gravitational collapse to his work on quantum gravity. However, Roger has long had an interest in and influence on the visual arts and their connections to mathematics, most notably in his collaboration with Dutch graphic artist M.C....
John Ball is retiring as Sedleian Professor of Natural Philosophy, Oxford oldest Scientific Chair. In this interview he charts the journey of the Applied Mathematician.as the subject has developed over the last 50 years. Describing his struggles with exams and his time at Cambridge, Sussex and Heriot-Watt before coming to Oxford in 1996, John reflects on walking round St Petersburg with Perelman, his views on how to choose and pursue your research, his work at the International Mathematical Unio...
The World population is growing at about 80 million per year. As time goes by, there is necessarily less space per person. Perhaps this is why the scientific community seems to be obsessed with folding things. In this lecture Dick James presents a mathematical approach to “rigid folding” inspired by the way atomistic structures form naturally - their features at a molecular level imply desirable features for macroscopic structures as well, especially 4D structures. Origami structures even sugges...
Archimedes, who famously jumped out of his bath shouting "Eureka", also 'invented' the number pi. Euler invented e and had fun with his formula e^(2 pi i) = 1. The world is full of important numbers waiting to be invented. Why not have a go? Michael Atiyah is one of the world's leading mathematicians and a pivotal figure in twentieth and twenty-first century mathematics. His lecture is followed by an interview with Sir John Ball, Sedleian Professor of Natural Philosophy here in Oxford, where Mic...
The human brain is the object of the ultimate intellectual egocentrism. It is also a source of endless scientific problems and an organ of such complexity that it is not clear that a mathematical approach is even possible, despite many attempts. In this talk Alain will use the brain to showcase how applied mathematics thrives on such challenges. Through mathematical modelling, we will see how we can gain insight into how the brain acquires its convoluted shape and what happens during trauma. We ...
Euler’s equation, the ‘most beautiful equation in mathematics’, startlingly connects the five most important constants in the subject: 1, 0, π, e and i. Central to both mathematics and physics. So what is this equation – and why is it pioneering? Robin Wilson is an Emeritus Professor of Pure Mathematics at the Open University, Emeritus Professor of Geometry at Gresham College, London, and a former Fellow of Keble College, Oxford.
Michael Bonsall explores how we can use mathematics to link between scales of organisation in biology, delving in to developmental biology, ecology and neurosciences. The lecture is illustrated and explored with real life examples, simple games and, of course, some neat maths. Michael Bonsall is Professor of Mathematical Biology in Oxford.
In our Oxford Mathematics Christmas Lecture Alex Bellos challenges you with some festive brainteasers as he tells the story of mathematical puzzles from the middle ages to modern day. Alex is the Guardian’s puzzle blogger as well as the author of several works of popular maths, including Puzzle Ninja, Can You Solve My Problems? and Alex’s Adventures in Numberland.
In the first Oxford Mathematics London Public Lecture, in partnership with the Science Museum, world-renowned mathematician Andrew Wiles lectured on his current work around Elliptic Curves followed by conversation with Hannah Fry. In a fascinating interview Andrew talked about his own motivations, his belief in the importance of struggle and resilience and his recipe for the better teaching of his subject, a subject he clearly loves deeply.
Allan McRobie explains how the key to understanding the language of curves is Rene Thom’s Catastrophe Theory, and how remarkably the best place to learn that language is perhaps in the life drawing class. There is a deep connection between the stability of oil rigs, the bending of light during gravitational lensing and the act of life drawing. To understand each, we must understand how we view curved surfaces. We are familiar with the language of straight-line geometry -- of squares, rectangles,...
Can mathematics really help us in our fight against infectious disease? Join Julia Gog as we explore exciting current research areas where mathematics is being used to study pandemics, viruses and everything in between. Julia Gog is Professor of Mathematical Biology, University of Cambridge and David N Moore Fellow at Queens’ College, Cambridge.
Prime numbers have intrigued, inspired and infuriated mathematicians for millennia and yet mathematicians' difficulty with answering simple questions about them reveals their depth and subtlety. Join Vicky to learn about recent progress towards proving the famous Twin Primes Conjecture and to hear the very different ways in which these breakthroughs have been made - a solo mathematician working in isolation, a young mathematician displaying creativity at the start of a career, a large collaborat...
The study of networks offers a fruitful approach to understanding human behaviour. Sanjeev Goyal is one of its pioneers. In this lecture Sanjeev presents a puzzle: In social communities, the vast majority of individuals get their information from a very small subset of the group -- the influencers, connectors, and opinion leaders. But empirical research suggests that there are only minor differences between the influencers and the others. Using mathematical modelling of individual activity and n...
Symmetry has played a role both for composers and in the creation of musical instruments. Marcus shows how composers have used this symmetry and demonstrates how Ernst Chladni revealed extraordinary symmetrical shapes in the vibrations of a metal Plate. Marcus du Sautoy is Charles Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University.
Tim Palmer discusses Ed Lorenz the man and his work, and compares and contrasts the meaning of the 'Butterfly Effect' as most people understand it today, and as Lorenz himself intended it to mean. Meteorologist Ed Lorenz was one of the founding fathers of chaos theory. In 1963 he showed with just three simple equations that the world around us could be both completely deterministic and yet practically unpredictable. In the 1990s, Lorenz's work was popularised by science writer James Gleick who u...
