The Tim Harford Prize
So, you may recall our ‘I love maths’ Competition. Thanks in particular if you were one of the many people who entered our competition!
Economist and statistician Tim Harford generously signed a copy of his latest book, The Truth Detective and a Maths Society Poster at 2023’s Oxford Maths Festival, held at their university’s Institute of Mathematics.
Those, along with a special badge from the event, constituted the ‘I love maths‘ Prize, won by the person who could complete the sentence “I love maths because…” in the most original manner.
Well done to E Bailey for winning the Prize! This was her quote:
“I love maths because you can transpose everything in the world into maths, therefore logicising and simplifying what is so chaotic. It puts the world into order.”
— E Bailey, Winner
Alright, maybe ‘logicising’ isn’t a real word, but our committee was impressed enough to select this very original winner!
We also chose two runners-up, who also got badges:
“I love maths because it is a universal language to communicate that can break barriers.”
— A Wang, Runner-Up
“I love maths because it offers me logical and systematic problem-solving, allowing me to explore patterns, challenge my mind, and discover what I can do with numbers.”
— G Thomas, Runner-Up
And what did our committee think?
“I love maths because it is the unending, eternally beautiful and simple fabric that links all of life and existence… and studying it is brilliant fun!”
— C Cooper, President
Wow… a bit philosophical from our President. They do say that a mathematician is also a philosopher, so maybe that explains things. And now it’s Mr Gupta, so here we go again.
“I love maths because of its power to shower love and change the world, teleporting me into an engrossing storm of logic and numbers, unlocking my full potential and making a better me.”
— A Gupta, Competitions Secretary
“I love maths because it is my calm and comfort in an otherwise chaotic world”
— R Karlowska, Membership Secretary
Now for our editorial board:
“I love maths because it’s a beautifully concise way to look at the world”
— R Esswood, Editorial Board
“I love maths because it makes sense and has infinite possibilities”
— G Ward PhD, Editorial Board
Finally, some other honourable mentions:
“I love maths because it makes going from A to B to C a lot simpler thanks to the Pythagoras theorem!”
— S Attinamane, Honourable Mention
“I love Maths because it is accurate, precise, and constant in spite of infinite possibilities, variations and methods to approach problems – the greatest human invention that helps explain the mysteries of all sciences in the universe.”
— A Pillai, Honourable Mention
Congratulations to E Bailey, our winner, and to our runners-up, A Wang and G Thomas.
Thank you so much for all who participated, your support for the Society is greatly appreciated. Our first competition has been a great success, and we look forward to the future ones.
When the Maths Society met Tim Harford
Economist and author Tim Harford OBE presents More or Less on BBC Radio 4, a programme about real life statistics. His books explaining economics and statistics include The Undercover Economist, How to Make the World Add Up, and most recently The Truth Detective.
The Maths Society would particularly like to thank our President, C Cooper and Competitions Secretary, A Gupta, for putting on and judging our first competition.