̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge - Millennium Maths Project

NRICH: nurturing next-generation problem solvers

ta385 — Wed, 30 Mar 2022 06:00:00 +0000

NRICH spent the last two years in emergency rescue mode, helping learners in lockdown. Its online resources attracted over a million page views per week. Now celebrating their 25th anniversary, the NRICH team is more determined than ever to nurture our next-generation problem solvers.

Marking the centenary of Turing's birth

bjb42 — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 08:00:24 +0000

Alan Turing was a mathematician, cryptographer and pioneer of computer science who possessed one of the greatest brains of the 20th century. His life was one of secret triumphs shadowed by public tragedy.

Perhaps best known today for his part in breaking the German Enigma code during World War II, Turing was by that time already established as a mathematician of extraordinary capability.

During his time at King’s College, Cambridge, he conceived of the ‘Turing Machine’ - a universal machine which could imitate all possible calculating devices. This mathematical model went on to become one of the cornerstones of computer science, and is arguably the most influential mathematical abstraction of the 20^th Century. Turing was 22 years old.

“Turing’s centenary year is a very special year for me, and other mathematicians like me,” said Dr James Grime from the ̽��ֱ��’s Millenium Maths Project, who regularly tours schools with an original ‘Enigma’ machine.

“In its purest form, mathematics is the search for truth, and Turing was one of the most important contributors to this search. It’s fantastic that his life is being celebrated.”

Grime has presented a short film produced by the ̽��ֱ�� on the life and work of Turing for the ̽��ֱ��'s YouTube and Vimeo channels. ̽��ֱ��film uses some of the photographs and documents that his family gave to King's College. ̽��ֱ��Turing family have continued to donate documents to the King's Archive Centre, and you can see many of these online at the Turing Digital Archive.

At 3.30pm on the afternoon of the centenary day, Saturday 23 June, the Mayor of Cambridge - Councillor Sheila Stuart - will unveil a Blue Plaque to commemorate Alan Turing on the grass in front of King’s College. ̽��ֱ��event will be streamed live on the internet on the King’s College website here.

A major centenary conference looking at Turing’s impact on mathematics, computing, philosophy and beyond is currently taking place in Cambridge - where the first issue of a new interdisciplinary journal called "Computability" has been presented. Inspired directly by Turing and his work, the journal aims to capture the spirit of Turing through the combination of theoretical insight and practical application that is the mark of Turing's work.

More information on the conference here

More information on the journal here

Born in London on 23 June 1912, Turing spent his childhood in Hastings in Kent and Sherbourne in Dorset. He displayed a precocious talent at school for maths and science, including condensing Einstein’s theory of relativity for his mum at the age of just 15. Turing’s abilities led to him receive a scholarship to King’s College.

He famously went on to make a vital contribution to the code-breakers at Bletchley Park during the Second World War. Not only did he make the first breakthroughs with the Naval Enigma code, allowing Britain’s food and supplies to be shipped across the Atlantic, but, along with Gordon Welchman, he designed the machine - called the Bombe - which smashed the German Enigma code.

In 1945 Turing received an OBE for services to the Foreign Office, although the real reason for this honour remained top secret for another 30 years, long past Turing’s death. Many historians today believe that the work of the code-breakers shortened the war by two years.

In September 2009, the British government made a public apology to Alan Turing - who was gay at a time when it was illegal in Britain. When authorities discovered the truth about his sexuality, he was sentenced to endure horrific hormone treatment to avoid imprisonment, labelled a security risk and forced from his job as a code breaker.

Turing committed suicide in 1954 by biting from an apple laced with cyanide, a desperately sad end to the life of a genius whose astonishing contribution to the war effort remained unknown until the 1970s.

Saturday 23 June marks the centenary of the birth of Alan Turing - mathematical genius, hero of the WWII code breakers of Bletchley Park, and father of modern computing. To celebrate, a short film has been produced by the ̽��ֱ��. A blue plaque has been unveiled on the front of King’s College - where Turing was both a student and then a fellow.

Turing’s centenary year is a very special year for me, and other mathematicians like me.

James Grime

Alan Turing - Celebrating the life of a genius

King's College

Alan Turing aged 16

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How Usain Bolt can run faster – effortlessly

bjb42 — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 16:58:52 +0000

̽��ֱ��study is published today in Significance, the magazine of the Royal Statistical Society and the American Statistical Association. In it Professor Barrow illustrates how, based on concrete mathematical evidence, Bolt could cut his world record from 9.58 seconds to 9.44.

It is part of the Millennium Maths Project's Maths and Sport programme which highlights the hidden maths behind the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Usain Bolt holds the current 100m world record, at 9.58s, and has been described as the best sprinter there has ever been, dramatically reducing his running times since he first won the world record in 2008. Previous scientific studies have been carried out aiming to predict his maximum speed, yet have failed to take all the relevant factors into account, and Bolt has already surpassed the speeds they predicted.

Today’s Significance study highlights the three key factors instrumental in improving Bolt’s performance, which combined produce an improvement of 0.14s.

Firstly Bolt’s reaction time is surprisingly poor, in fact one of the longest of leading sprinters. By responding to the gun as quickly as possible without triggering a false start, with 0.10s, he would shave 0.05s off his world record to 9.53s.

Secondly, advantageous wind conditions can help an athlete improve their time, although this is supposedly taken into account. According to Professor Barrow, “the accuracy of wind speed measurements is currently much lower than is generally believed because only a single anemometer is used, and wind speeds vary with position on track”. Bolt’s Berlin record of 9.58s benefited from a modest 0.9m/s tailwind. If he were to benefit from a maximum permissible tailwind of 2m/s, he would expend less effort on beating wind drag and reduce this record further by 0.06s to 9.47s.

Thirdly, running at altitude reduces the air density in the wind drag calculation, as was witnessed at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City (2240m above sea level), where significant improvements over short distances were displayed. As a result, athletics world records are only permitted at altitudes of up to 1000m, but this still allows Bolt to reduce his time by a further 0.03s to 9.44s if he runs at this altitude.

“With the relatively big chunks we’ve seen Bolt take out of world records, we are still a long way from understanding the limits of his, and others’, sprinting speeds” said Professor Barrow. “What this study serves to illustrate is the insight maths can give into sports performance, which has not been done previously to such a degree of accuracy.”

̽��ֱ��Maths and Sport: Countdown to the Games programme, which has been awarded the Inspire Mark, the badge of the London 2012 Inspire programme, forms part of the education legacy of the London Games. It features in the Practical Learning strand of Get Set +, the London 2012 education programme and includes online maths resources for teachers and students as well as a Maths and Sport roadshow.

Usain Bolt can achieve faster running times with no extra effort on his part or improvement to his fitness, according to a new study by Professor John Barrow, Director of the Millennium Maths Project at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge.

With the relatively big chunks we’ve seen Bolt take out of world records, we are still a long way from understanding the limits of his, and others’, sprinting speeds.

John Barrow

Pirano Bob R from Flickr.

Usain Bolt

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