Peter Rowlett
@peterrowlett.net
I teach maths at a UK university and work as a maths communicator. Sheffield/Nottingham based. Aperiodical blog, Mathematical Objects podcast. Part of http://finitegroup.co.uk
peterrowlett.net
peterrowlett.net
My son (10)’s spelling homework this week was words ending “cial” or “tial”. One of them was “artificial”. I asked if he knows what it means. He said “it’s the A in AI. It means fake”.
February 9, 2026 at 12:22 PM
My son (10)’s spelling homework this week was words ending “cial” or “tial”. One of them was “artificial”. I asked if he knows what it means. He said “it’s the A in AI. It means fake”.
A student of mine has been investigating the history of the journal I'm now editing.
She reviewed a previous history published in 1996, and covered the intervening period by interviewing the last two editors and the production editor.
The resulting paper is now published online.
She reviewed a previous history published in 1996, and covered the intervening period by interviewing the last two editors and the production editor.
The resulting paper is now published online.
A brief history of The Mathematical Gazette: thirty years later
This article revisits the history of The Mathematical Gazette, extending earlier accounts by examining developments since the publication of Michael Dampier’s ‘The Mathematical Gazette: a brief his...
www.tandfonline.com
February 9, 2026 at 9:35 AM
A student of mine has been investigating the history of the journal I'm now editing.
She reviewed a previous history published in 1996, and covered the intervening period by interviewing the last two editors and the production editor.
The resulting paper is now published online.
She reviewed a previous history published in 1996, and covered the intervening period by interviewing the last two editors and the production editor.
The resulting paper is now published online.
Reposted by Peter Rowlett
I really enjoyed listening to your conversation with @nhoskee.bsky.social. This podcast episode was thought provoking and insightful.
January 31, 2026 at 8:31 PM
I really enjoyed listening to your conversation with @nhoskee.bsky.social. This podcast episode was thought provoking and insightful.
Pick up a copy of New Scientist this weekend, or go to the website (subscription or via your library), and you’ll find me writing about Snakes and Ladders and analysis of games of chance.
January 30, 2026 at 5:21 PM
Pick up a copy of New Scientist this weekend, or go to the website (subscription or via your library), and you’ll find me writing about Snakes and Ladders and analysis of games of chance.
New podcast episode! @steckl.es and I have an interesting chat about maths, what it is, and how to communicate that, with @nhoskee.bsky.social inspired by the Public Math 'certified mathematical object' stickers.
aperiodical.com/2026/01/math...
aperiodical.com/2026/01/math...
Mathematical Objects: Certified Mathematical Object sticker with Chris Nho
A conversation about mathematics and communicating mathematics inspired by a ‘Certified Mathematical Object’ sticker. Presented by Katie Steckles and Peter Rowlett, with special guest C…
aperiodical.com
January 30, 2026 at 9:03 AM
New podcast episode! @steckl.es and I have an interesting chat about maths, what it is, and how to communicate that, with @nhoskee.bsky.social inspired by the Public Math 'certified mathematical object' stickers.
aperiodical.com/2026/01/math...
aperiodical.com/2026/01/math...
A call for people to write for The Mathematical Gazette, and a plea for volunteers to peer review, from @amiemathematics.bsky.social. It's the journal I edit, behind the scenes we're getting ready to publish my first issue!
Mathematical Association - News Detail
News
m-a.org.uk
January 28, 2026 at 3:52 PM
A call for people to write for The Mathematical Gazette, and a plea for volunteers to peer review, from @amiemathematics.bsky.social. It's the journal I edit, behind the scenes we're getting ready to publish my first issue!
Reposted by Peter Rowlett
See what his teacher makes of e.π^e. 🤣
January 18, 2026 at 10:25 PM
See what his teacher makes of e.π^e. 🤣
Haha, it’s a page from last year’s KS2 SATS paper.
January 18, 2026 at 8:12 PM
Haha, it’s a page from last year’s KS2 SATS paper.
What’s your answer here?
My son got it from school. He said 65. Very boring! I was wondering about 20π.
#MathsToday
My son got it from school. He said 65. Very boring! I was wondering about 20π.
#MathsToday
January 18, 2026 at 7:13 PM
What’s your answer here?
My son got it from school. He said 65. Very boring! I was wondering about 20π.
#MathsToday
My son got it from school. He said 65. Very boring! I was wondering about 20π.
#MathsToday
New podcast episode! @steckl.es tells me about the maths of taxicabs.
Search ‘Mathematical Objects’ where you get podcasts, or get it here:
Search ‘Mathematical Objects’ where you get podcasts, or get it here:
Mathematical Objects: A taxicab
A conversation about mathematics inspired by a taxicab. Presented by Katie Steckles and Peter Rowlett.
aperiodical.com
January 16, 2026 at 9:07 AM
New podcast episode! @steckl.es tells me about the maths of taxicabs.
Search ‘Mathematical Objects’ where you get podcasts, or get it here:
Search ‘Mathematical Objects’ where you get podcasts, or get it here:
I thought it was the % of people who rated themselves 4 or 5, although I’m not clear on that or what they were rating on. I haven’t dug through the report, but what I saw wasn’t huge on the technical detail.
January 13, 2026 at 9:33 PM
I thought it was the % of people who rated themselves 4 or 5, although I’m not clear on that or what they were rating on. I haven’t dug through the report, but what I saw wasn’t huge on the technical detail.
One is a rating on a likert scale, the other is a score for ability which seems to be based on your maths qualifications and how you did on some questions. I wonder whether people answering knew ‘4’ means ‘I will score “high” on your test’, or whether they are totally different things.
January 13, 2026 at 1:32 PM
One is a rating on a likert scale, the other is a score for ability which seems to be based on your maths qualifications and how you did on some questions. I wonder whether people answering knew ‘4’ means ‘I will score “high” on your test’, or whether they are totally different things.
The claim that "just about everyone overestimates their own ability to use everyday numbers" (p.19) which the Telegraph picks up on, is interesting. It refers to this graphic. 40% scored high/very high cf. 60% who thought they would, a pattern across all demographics. Is that "just about everyone"?
January 13, 2026 at 8:36 AM
The claim that "just about everyone overestimates their own ability to use everyday numbers" (p.19) which the Telegraph picks up on, is interesting. It refers to this graphic. 40% scored high/very high cf. 60% who thought they would, a pattern across all demographics. Is that "just about everyone"?
Report: people think using numbers is an important skill, more than half enjoy doing it (almost as many as enjoy reading), many don't score well but people want to improve their and their kid's abilities. richmondproject.org/wp-content/u...
Telegraph article ($): everyone's terrible at maths
Telegraph article ($): everyone's terrible at maths
Think you’re good at maths? Here’s why your claim may not add up
Sixty per cent of adults think they are good at maths but only 40 per cent scored highly in a research test
www.telegraph.co.uk
January 13, 2026 at 8:36 AM
Report: people think using numbers is an important skill, more than half enjoy doing it (almost as many as enjoy reading), many don't score well but people want to improve their and their kid's abilities. richmondproject.org/wp-content/u...
Telegraph article ($): everyone's terrible at maths
Telegraph article ($): everyone's terrible at maths
Excited that the next Finite Group livestream will be @mscroggs.co.uk giving the behind-the-scenes scoop on his 2025 Advent Calendar. Will what I did to solve the puzzles match what he expected people would do? Attend live and get your scroggsvent questions answered!
www.patreon.com/posts/upcomi...
www.patreon.com/posts/upcomi...
Upcoming Livestream: Thursday 15th January, 11am GMT - Scroggsvent Revisited | Finite Group
Get more from Finite Group on Patreon
www.patreon.com
January 7, 2026 at 8:50 AM
Excited that the next Finite Group livestream will be @mscroggs.co.uk giving the behind-the-scenes scoop on his 2025 Advent Calendar. Will what I did to solve the puzzles match what he expected people would do? Attend live and get your scroggsvent questions answered!
www.patreon.com/posts/upcomi...
www.patreon.com/posts/upcomi...
Reposted by Peter Rowlett
Having fun planning the next few livestream events for our online community for maths fans - join the Finite Group, and you can watch interesting people chat maths one hour a month, and be part of our Discord community all year round! finitegroup.co.uk
January 6, 2026 at 7:03 PM
Having fun planning the next few livestream events for our online community for maths fans - join the Finite Group, and you can watch interesting people chat maths one hour a month, and be part of our Discord community all year round! finitegroup.co.uk
Realising that I am now actually the Editor of The Mathematical Gazette. I have been saying "I'm the next Editor, starting in 2026" for a while, but now it actually is 2026! Getting ready to publish my first issue in March.
www.tandfonline.com/journals/tmg...
www.tandfonline.com/journals/tmg...
Learn about The Mathematical Gazette
Learn about The Mathematical Gazette aims & scope, editorial board, journal metrics and more.
www.tandfonline.com
January 5, 2026 at 11:50 AM
Realising that I am now actually the Editor of The Mathematical Gazette. I have been saying "I'm the next Editor, starting in 2026" for a while, but now it actually is 2026! Getting ready to publish my first issue in March.
www.tandfonline.com/journals/tmg...
www.tandfonline.com/journals/tmg...
New podcast episode: Mathematical Objects: Venn diagram with Keisha Thompson
Mathematical Objects: Venn diagram with Keisha Thompson
A conversation about mathematics inspired by a Venn diagram. Presented by Katie Steckles and Peter Rowlett, with special guest Keisha Thompson. Katie mentioned the MathForEquality badges and pins.
aperiodical.com
January 2, 2026 at 9:16 AM
New podcast episode: Mathematical Objects: Venn diagram with Keisha Thompson
* creativity, e.g. can I use floor/ceiling, double-factorial, other exotic stuff - you don’t need to, but if you like to, sure, and it might help if you decide to push beyond 10.
January 2, 2026 at 7:37 AM
* creativity, e.g. can I use floor/ceiling, double-factorial, other exotic stuff - you don’t need to, but if you like to, sure, and it might help if you decide to push beyond 10.
Lots of replies to this (many spoilers) - I forgot some of the clarifications people sometimes need, oops. Rules are a little loose because this encourages creativity. Some people don’t like including √, some like to include concatenation. Generally () included & symbols before the first 2 are fine.
January 2, 2026 at 7:34 AM
Lots of replies to this (many spoilers) - I forgot some of the clarifications people sometimes need, oops. Rules are a little loose because this encourages creativity. Some people don’t like including √, some like to include concatenation. Generally () included & symbols before the first 2 are fine.
Happy to report the 2026 game works.
So: place standard mathematical operators (+−×÷√!, that sort of thing) between 2, 0, 2, and 6, keeping the digits in order without concatenation, to make the numbers 0–10.
How many can you get?
#MathsToday
So: place standard mathematical operators (+−×÷√!, that sort of thing) between 2, 0, 2, and 6, keeping the digits in order without concatenation, to make the numbers 0–10.
How many can you get?
#MathsToday
January 1, 2026 at 9:20 PM
Happy to report the 2026 game works.
So: place standard mathematical operators (+−×÷√!, that sort of thing) between 2, 0, 2, and 6, keeping the digits in order without concatenation, to make the numbers 0–10.
How many can you get?
#MathsToday
So: place standard mathematical operators (+−×÷√!, that sort of thing) between 2, 0, 2, and 6, keeping the digits in order without concatenation, to make the numbers 0–10.
How many can you get?
#MathsToday
Particularly mathematical New Years Honours 2026 - just a couple this year, anyone spot any more?
#MathsToday
#MathsToday
Particularly mathematical New Years Honours 2026
The UK Government have announced the latest list of honours, and we’ve taken a look for the particularly mathematical entries. Here is the selection for this year – if you spot any more, let us kno…
aperiodical.com
December 31, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Particularly mathematical New Years Honours 2026 - just a couple this year, anyone spot any more?
#MathsToday
#MathsToday
Merry Christmas!
I’ve enjoyed the @mscroggs.co.uk puzzle advent calendar - prizes to be won if you complete the puzzles this year www.mscroggs.co.uk
Something else I’ve enjoyed being part of: the Mathematically extra-complicated Secret Santa 2025 — @tomvii.bsky.social’s video:
youtu.be/4pG8_bWpmaE
I’ve enjoyed the @mscroggs.co.uk puzzle advent calendar - prizes to be won if you complete the puzzles this year www.mscroggs.co.uk
Something else I’ve enjoyed being part of: the Mathematically extra-complicated Secret Santa 2025 — @tomvii.bsky.social’s video:
youtu.be/4pG8_bWpmaE
Mathematically extra-complicated Secretest Santa 2025
YouTube video by suckerpinch
youtu.be
December 25, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Merry Christmas!
I’ve enjoyed the @mscroggs.co.uk puzzle advent calendar - prizes to be won if you complete the puzzles this year www.mscroggs.co.uk
Something else I’ve enjoyed being part of: the Mathematically extra-complicated Secret Santa 2025 — @tomvii.bsky.social’s video:
youtu.be/4pG8_bWpmaE
I’ve enjoyed the @mscroggs.co.uk puzzle advent calendar - prizes to be won if you complete the puzzles this year www.mscroggs.co.uk
Something else I’ve enjoyed being part of: the Mathematically extra-complicated Secret Santa 2025 — @tomvii.bsky.social’s video:
youtu.be/4pG8_bWpmaE
I wrote a puzzle in today’s Sunday Times. Also on the last page of this PDF: extras.thetimes.co.uk/web/public/p...
December 21, 2025 at 1:58 PM
I wrote a puzzle in today’s Sunday Times. Also on the last page of this PDF: extras.thetimes.co.uk/web/public/p...