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Maths in the Malls  
During the summer on Friday 15 and Saturday 16 July, Steve Humble, Head of Mathematics at Newcastle College, organised a maths show called "Maths in the Malls" at the Metro shopping centre near Newcastle upon Tyne. The aim of the event was to create a greater public awareness that mathematics is all around us and is part of our everyday life. To do this he enlisted the help of a wide range of maths users. Tyne and Wear Museums showed maths through the ages; Professor Robin Johnson brought puzzles; Professor Chris Budd performed his maths magic show; Susan Hickman came with the NRICH road show; Dr Sarah Mclusky from SETPOINT challenged visitors with Sudoku and Countdown; Professor Yutaka Nishiyama from Japan demonstrated the boomerang he had invented to the enjoyment of event visitors and passers-by. There were also local representatives from music, art and golf to illustrate how maths crosses boundaries into other subjects.
The public had the opportunity to lose themselves in a giant "No Left Turn Maze" and to test their maths skills on a number of puzzles, the prizes of which had been sponsored by small local business' and BT.

 

 

 

 

 

 


On the Friday children were invited from local schools
to the event, and Saturday was very busy
with shoppers to the MetroCentre. There was
very positive feedback, with a number of
children, parents and teachers wanting to know when
the next event would take place.

 With the number of students taking maths falling, some people say the subject is a dinosaur on its last legs. Steve Humble vehemently disagrees with this statement and feel that improved uptake on courses would happen if children and adults became more aware of the applications of maths. Mathematics is everywhere, but this is not always seen by the general public. For example, everyone notices patterns and shapes in clothes and architecture, but they do not realise this is geometry. To this end Steve also writes a column in his local newspaper, the Evening Chronicle called Dr Maths. People write in with their maths queries and questions. Steve has written columns on symmetry in everyday objects, number patterns, magic squares, counting, Dan Brown's book "The DaVinci Code", mazes, golf, Sudoku, to name but a few.

Steve Humble would like to thank all those who took part in the Maths in the Malls event, the support from the marketing department at Newcastle College, the IMA Small Grant Scheme and the great leap the Evening Chronicle has made to bring maths to its 55,000 readership. Without them none of his work in raising the profile of mathematics would be possible.

Steve Humbles email address is DRMaths@hotmail.co.uk

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