Professor Keating visit

Students from years 10, 11, 12, and 13 from all four secondary schools in the Olympus Academy Trust were treated to an hour of incredible mathematical enrichment from Professor Keating in the main hall at Bradley Stoke Community School. Topics ranged from Pythagoras to great solved and unsolved problems in the mathematical world, and from congruent numbers to cryptography. It was lovely to see so many interested students coming along (some in the midst of sixth form mock exams) and Professor Keating stayed for another 40 minutes after the lecture to answer many questions from individual students – on subjects such as university applications, fluid dynamics, artificial intelligence, and many others. We are very grateful to Professor Keating for the time he took out of his busy schedule, and we hope he returns regularly in the future for more mathematical extension, enrichment and enjoyment.

Some quotes from students: “Nice introduction to proofs and the history of maths – it showed how maths and the research of maths applied in everyday life”

“It’s fascinating how some simple problems might be intractable and some might require very creative ways in order to prove them to ensure they are waterproof.”

“I never thought that maths like prime numbers was involved in important systems in real life like cryptography.”