Peter Rowlett
@peterrowlett.net
I teach maths and computing at a UK university and work as a maths communicator. Sheffield/Nottingham based. Editor, The Mathematical Gazette. Aperiodical blog, Mathematical Objects podcast. Part of http://finitegroup.co.uk peterrowlett.net
The new issue of The Mathematical Gazette has arrived! My second as editor. 😁 My editorial discusses what the journal is about and who reads it. It and six other articles from the issue are free to read online here: www.tandfonline.com/toc/tmgz20/1... @amiemathematics.bsky.social
You can trust quality that’s built on careful attention to detail.
I continue to wonder about utility of #genAI. I gave Claude some text I wrote and asked it to find and add suitable references. In the response it gave some warnings that straight-up assumed I am a student cheating on an assignment. 🤯
Not exactly showing the power of the Approximation Day Bot, but it’s a biggy. Question is: what happens on the other days of the year? The answer is silliness - give it a follow and find out!
Happy Approximation Day@happyapproxday.bsky.social · 2w agoHappy π Approximation Day!
My son got a calculator for secondary school in the autumn, so we took it for a test. He drew a series of triangles and measured the sides, then worked out their ratios and plotted them. Then we tried some other buttons on the calculator and discovered sin, cos and tan make the same values! #tmwyk
Heading home from my last school visit of the year. Since Sept 25 I have delivered 10 events on campus, visited 9 schools & done 1 online talk, to over 1300 students from years 7-13. A mixture of maths careers talks & workshops on modelling, problem solving, cryptography, games and history of maths.
If you're looking for somewhere to start, the top episodes by downloads of Mathematical Objects are: 1. Low bridge sign with Adam Townsend 2. Mathematics in Theory and Practice, edited by Warwick Sawyer 3. Fingers with Ben Orlin 4. A sheep, at least one side of which is black 5. Towers of Hanoi
Mathematical Objects Podcast – list of episodes
Katie Steckles and Peter Rowlett chat about some aspect of mathematics using a mathematical object as inspiration. Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | Spotify | RSS. All episodes are available un…
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What is The Mathematical Gazette about? Who is it for? I discuss this, drawing on words from previous editors, in my editorial for the new issue. Free to access here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
What on earth happened here? This is earlier today. I was at a bus stop in a village about 7.5 miles from Nottingham and asked Google Maps for public transport directions to Nottingham.
Can you solve this puzzle? Robin McLean explores the algebra of constructing puzzles like this in a new #openaccess article in The Mathematical Gazette. Read here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Next Thursday 25th June, I'm doing a livestream with @Ayliean.bsky.social about aperiodic tilings - we'll be chatting about substitution tilings and matching rules, and chatting about the recent #BeachSpectres project! If you'd like to watch, simply join our Finite Group community: finitegroup.co.uk
Finite Group
Finite Group is a collective of cool maths people who want to have nice conversations about mathematical ideas.
finitegroup.co.uk
Particularly mathematical Birthday Honours 2026 #MathsToday
Particularly mathematical Birthday Honours 2026
The UK Government have announced the new set of King’s Birthday Honours. Here’s our selection of particularly mathematical entries for this year. If you spot any more, let us know in the comments a…
aperiodical.com
Ooo, my piece has appeared online here Mathematical Gazetteer of the British Isles David Singmaster's Gazetteer, Green's Windmill, and more. #MathsToday
Mathematical Gazetteer of the British Isles
What do you do to find places to visit when travelling? Consult a guidebook? Search Google Maps? Look at reviews on TripAdvisor? Early in my career, when
ima.org.uk
Peter Rowlett@peterrowlett.net · 2mo agoMaths on Holiday - new issue of the IMA members’ magazine, in which I wrote about David Singmaster’s Gazeteer, Green’s Windmill, that time Sam Hansen came to town, etc.
Maths on Holiday - new issue of the IMA members’ magazine, in which I wrote about David Singmaster’s Gazeteer, Green’s Windmill, that time Sam Hansen came to town, etc.
![Mathematical Gazetteer of the British Isles
Peter Rowlett Math FIMA, Sheffield Hallam University
What do you do to find places to visit when travelling? Consult a guidebook? Search Google Maps? Look at reviews on TripAdvisor?
Early in my career, when I used to travel a lot to visit universities around the UK, I would often look up the places I was visiting in the Mathematical Gazetteer of the British Isles. This is an alphabetical listing of place names, and each has some information about mathematical places of interest and the mathematicians who were born, died, worked or visited there.
These were collected and published by the late David Singmaster in the BSHM Newsletter of the British Society for the History of Mathematics. Singmaster explained that he had been collecting information 'for some years' already by the time of the first publication [1]. The series was published in 18 parts from](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2cztrl4zqdmevgscjlwmjw5k/bafkreidrxi7qscaknfqng267yjdikxpgtac25ugt2db2yqhhmhl5or5xqm)
Quick update from #BeachSpectres from @ayliean.bsky.social - join Finite Group for free to access the video. patreon.com/posts/beach-...
Optimal play in ‘Guess Who?’ #openaccess in The Mathematical Gazette Suggests using questions with an embedded paradox to produce three responses from your opponent - yes, no, or argh paradox head explodes - allowing you to narrow down the suspects more quickly. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Optimal play in ‘Guess Who?’
We prove an optimal strategy for the children's game Guess Who? assuming the official rules are in use and that both players ask ‘classical’ questions with bipartite responses. Applying a technique...
tandfonline.com
Teachers! We're running a day of year 12 maths workshops on 25th June on campus in Sheffield city centre. Bring a group? They'll see the university campus and enjoy taking part in maths workshops run by university lecturers. shuoutreach.com/event/explor... #MathsToday #AlevelMathematics
Exploring Maths Experience Day
Maths has always been a vital tool to understand the world around us, as well as a playful and creative way to engage our curiosity. Come along to our Exploring Maths days to glimpse the world that…
shuoutreach.com
Could we rely more on everyday intuitions when thinking about abstract ideas? Does the formalism seen when teaching match how mathematicians think about mathematics? Letters to the editor in response (in support or arguing against!) are welcome via gazette@amie.org.uk
Association for Mathematics in Education@amiemathematics.bsky.social · 3mo agoFree paper available from The Mathematical Gazette: Why do disjoint cycles commute? Or, why do mathematicians not like horsies and doggies? by Douglas Hofstadter, author of 'Gödel, Escher, Bach' - which won a Pulitzer Prize in 1980. Read it here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10....
Free paper available from The Mathematical Gazette: Why do disjoint cycles commute? Or, why do mathematicians not like horsies and doggies? by Douglas Hofstadter, author of 'Gödel, Escher, Bach' - which won a Pulitzer Prize in 1980. Read it here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10....
Why do disjoint cycles commute? Or, why do mathematicians not like horsies and doggies?
by Douglas Hofstadter
tandfonline.com
Just spotted a new edition of the Comprehensive LaTeX Symbols List has been published and it contains my package customdice! ctan.org/pkg/comprehe...
Went to Green’s Windmill this evening for a members’ event. All wrapped up for major repairs to redo the cap and sails. Visitor numbers understandably down this year. Donations to help welcome: www.greensmill.org.uk/support-us/d...
My son (10)’s homework asked him for two common multiples of 3 and 4. He put 12 and 0. It marked him wrong. Unsure how to feel about that.
I’m on my way to give a talk to Sheffield U3A’s Science & Technology Group, about board games through the ages with a bit of game theory thrown in.
In London for this. Looking forward to meeting readers, authors and reviewers of The Mathematical Gazette.
Association for Mathematics in Education@amiemathematics.bsky.social · 4mo agoToday is our AMiE Member Day event! Our three keynote sessions will be video recorded and shared with all AMiE members in due course. A big shout out to @aqaeducation.bsky.social who are the headline sponsor for this event, as well as to our other exhibitors and sponsors.
The first issue of The Mathematical Gazette with me as Editor has arrived in the post! Non-subscribers can read my editorial (and some other papers in this issue) for free at www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... #MathsToday #MTBoS #ITeachMath
Even better news: for this month only, the Finite Group is even more finite! If you sign up for a paid membership in April, you can get a 50% discount on your first month using the code 3VMFN. You'll get this month's stream, plus the last three months of recordings, AND a crossnumber. Bargain!
If anyone would like to join our online maths community, it's free to join our Discord chat, and we have paid memberships at £4/mo which get you access to monthly livestreams/recordings of fun 1-hour maths chats! Here's a video showing some clips from recent streams: www.youtube.com/watch?v=CveA...
Finite Group - Highlights Video 2026
Finite Group is a collective of cool maths people who want to have nice conversations about mathematical ideas. Join our community to support and participate in our live monthly-ish video chats, as…
youtube.com
For a while I've been enjoying hanging out and chatting maths with @steckl.es @ayliean.bsky.social @mscroggs.co.uk at the Finite Group. Find out what happens at a Finite Group livestream - new highlights video f. @katdoesmaths.bsky.social @jamesgrime.com How to join: finitegroup.co.uk#join
Finite Group - Highlights Video 2026
YouTube video by Finite Group
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My first issue of The Mathematical Gazette as editor has been published! My editorial talks about some of the many changes that the journal and I have been through since the last issue. @amiemathematics.bsky.social
A time of change
Published in The Mathematical Gazette (Vol. 110, No. 577, 2026)
tandfonline.com