Timothy Gowers
@wtgowers.bsky.social
Mathematics professor at Collège de France and fellow of Trinity College Cambridge.
Four degrees of separation: "Countries meeting in Brazil for two weeks could manage only a voluntary agreement to begin discussions on a roadmap to an eventual phase-out of fossil fuels ..."
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
End of fossil fuel era inches closer as Cop30 deal agreed after bitter standoff
Wealthy countries should triple funds for countries to tackle climate impacts, but deforestation and critical minerals blocked from final deal
www.theguardian.com
November 22, 2025 at 11:37 PM
Four degrees of separation: "Countries meeting in Brazil for two weeks could manage only a voluntary agreement to begin discussions on a roadmap to an eventual phase-out of fossil fuels ..."
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
This comment has a strong guns-don't-kill-people vibe.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said today that the fight against climate change was not against the fuels that cause it — only the pollution they emit.
Von der Leyen says EU is not fighting fossil fuels, only emissions
The comment could undermine European countries’ push at COP30 to move away from coal, oil and gas.
www.politico.eu
November 22, 2025 at 5:02 PM
This comment has a strong guns-don't-kill-people vibe.
Around ten years ago Marijn Heule, Oliver Kullmann and Victor Marek proved that if you 2-colour the positive integers from 1 to 7825, then you must be able to find x, y and z all of the same colour with x^2+y^2=z^2 -- that is, a monochromatic Pythagorean triple. 1/
November 11, 2025 at 9:30 AM
Around ten years ago Marijn Heule, Oliver Kullmann and Victor Marek proved that if you 2-colour the positive integers from 1 to 7825, then you must be able to find x, y and z all of the same colour with x^2+y^2=z^2 -- that is, a monochromatic Pythagorean triple. 1/
I crossed an interesting threshold yesterday, which I think many other mathematicians have been crossing recently as well. In the middle of trying to prove a result, I identified a statement that looked true and that would, if true, be useful to me. 1/3
October 31, 2025 at 7:25 PM
I crossed an interesting threshold yesterday, which I think many other mathematicians have been crossing recently as well. In the middle of trying to prove a result, I identified a statement that looked true and that would, if true, be useful to me. 1/3
Reposted by Timothy Gowers
Quel sera l’impact de l’IA sur les mathématiques dans les prochaines années ? par @wtgowers.bsky.social
@college-de-france.fr
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcTW...
@college-de-france.fr
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcTW...
Quel sera l’impact de l’IA sur les mathématiques dans les prochaines années ? - Timothy Gowers
YouTube video by Collège de France
www.youtube.com
October 24, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Quel sera l’impact de l’IA sur les mathématiques dans les prochaines années ? par @wtgowers.bsky.social
@college-de-france.fr
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcTW...
@college-de-france.fr
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcTW...
I can just about cope with the idea that the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere has hit a new record -- it's what one would expect even if we were rapidly decarbonizing. But that the *rate of increase* has hit a new record is unbelievably depressing.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Record leap in CO2 fuels fears of accelerating global heating
CO2 in air hit new high last year, with scientists concerned natural land and ocean carbon sinks are weakening
www.theguardian.com
October 15, 2025 at 12:23 PM
I can just about cope with the idea that the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere has hit a new record -- it's what one would expect even if we were rapidly decarbonizing. But that the *rate of increase* has hit a new record is unbelievably depressing.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Reposted by Timothy Gowers
Gatwick expansion blows another huge hole in the UK Government's already perforated climate commitments.
New article on Gatwick expansion with my @tyndallcentre.bsky.social colleague Dr Lois Pennington @loispennington.bsky.social
climateuncensored.com/gatwick-expa...
New article on Gatwick expansion with my @tyndallcentre.bsky.social colleague Dr Lois Pennington @loispennington.bsky.social
climateuncensored.com/gatwick-expa...
Gatwick Expansion: A Direct Assault on Climate Commitments - Climate Uncensored
Comment on UK Government announcement of Gatwick Airport expansion by Professor Kevin Anderson and Dr. Lois Pennington, of Tyndall Centre, University of
climateuncensored.com
September 26, 2025 at 7:53 AM
Gatwick expansion blows another huge hole in the UK Government's already perforated climate commitments.
New article on Gatwick expansion with my @tyndallcentre.bsky.social colleague Dr Lois Pennington @loispennington.bsky.social
climateuncensored.com/gatwick-expa...
New article on Gatwick expansion with my @tyndallcentre.bsky.social colleague Dr Lois Pennington @loispennington.bsky.social
climateuncensored.com/gatwick-expa...
Many thanks to the sender of an email that includes the heartwarming sentence, "I have long admired your contributions to mathematics, particularly [insert their field or specific result you respect]."
September 23, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Many thanks to the sender of an email that includes the heartwarming sentence, "I have long admired your contributions to mathematics, particularly [insert their field or specific result you respect]."
Happy to be able to say that my automatic theorem proving group in Cambridge submitted a successful bid to the AI for Math Fund, launched this year by Renaissance Philanthropy and XTX Markets. Here is the fund website, which contains descriptions of all the 29 projects to be funded.
AI for Math Fund — Renaissance Philanthropy – A brighter future for all through science, technology, and innovation
www.renaissancephilanthropy.org
September 22, 2025 at 10:22 PM
Happy to be able to say that my automatic theorem proving group in Cambridge submitted a successful bid to the AI for Math Fund, launched this year by Renaissance Philanthropy and XTX Markets. Here is the fund website, which contains descriptions of all the 29 projects to be funded.
The UK's terrorism problem has just got a whole lot worse.
Protester arrested over ‘Plasticine Action’ T-shirt: ‘How ridiculous is this?’
Miles Pickering says crowd at protest over Palestine Action ban was laughing at ‘silliness’ of scene as he was detained
www.theguardian.com
August 18, 2025 at 8:37 PM
The UK's terrorism problem has just got a whole lot worse.
Around a year ago my mother, my two sisters and I attended an event of a kind we would never normally go to: a celebration for fans of a TV series, who came from all over the world. The series in question was Granada TV's version of Sherlock Holmes, starring Jeremy Brett. 1/2
August 17, 2025 at 9:02 AM
Around a year ago my mother, my two sisters and I attended an event of a kind we would never normally go to: a celebration for fans of a TV series, who came from all over the world. The series in question was Granada TV's version of Sherlock Holmes, starring Jeremy Brett. 1/2
This article points out that of the three people in the infamous photo of Prince Andrew, Virginia Giuffre, and Ghislaine Maxwell, Andrew is the only one who isn't either dead or in prison. In other news, I am the only one out of me, Keir Starmer and Bukayo Saka who isn't either a PM or a footballer.
The idea of an unelected, tax avoiding, taxpayer sponging monarchy in a democracy in 2025 is ridiculous. #notmyking #abolishthemonarchy #nokings
Prince Andrew book seals his fate for any return
Historian Andrew Lownie has made some unflattering claims in a book about Prince Andrew.
buff.ly
August 9, 2025 at 1:29 PM
This article points out that of the three people in the infamous photo of Prince Andrew, Virginia Giuffre, and Ghislaine Maxwell, Andrew is the only one who isn't either dead or in prison. In other news, I am the only one out of me, Keir Starmer and Bukayo Saka who isn't either a PM or a footballer.
I have now added a third video to this IMO2025 series, in which I solve Question 5 (in about an hour and a half).
July 20, 2025 at 12:25 PM
I have now added a third video to this IMO2025 series, in which I solve Question 5 (in about an hour and a half).
I have added a second video to this IMO2025 series, in which I solve Question 4. (I decided to skip Q2 as it was geometry and Q3 for now as it would normally be harder than Q4 and I want to work up.) It's pretty long -- an hour and 46 minutes -- but you can always watch at double speed.
July 19, 2025 at 4:01 PM
I have added a second video to this IMO2025 series, in which I solve Question 4. (I decided to skip Q2 as it was geometry and Q3 for now as it would normally be harder than Q4 and I want to work up.) It's pretty long -- an hour and 46 minutes -- but you can always watch at double speed.
From time to time I like to video myself solving maths problems in real time. Since the IMO has just happened, I plan to try a few of this year's questions. Here I get through Question 1. More to come at some point.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=1G1n...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=1G1n...
IMO2025Q1
YouTube video by Timothy Gowers
www.youtube.com
July 18, 2025 at 4:35 PM
From time to time I like to video myself solving maths problems in real time. Since the IMO has just happened, I plan to try a few of this year's questions. Here I get through Question 1. More to come at some point.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=1G1n...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=1G1n...
I've started a second blog, in which I will discuss in as systematic a way as I can topics about which people (including me) have strong feelings. I explain more about its nature and purpose in an introductory post. First up after that: a long post about the war in Gaza.
A mathematician sounds off
mathsandsoundingoff.wordpress.com
July 1, 2025 at 8:45 AM
I've started a second blog, in which I will discuss in as systematic a way as I can topics about which people (including me) have strong feelings. I explain more about its nature and purpose in an introductory post. First up after that: a long post about the war in Gaza.
Reposted by Timothy Gowers
My friends Tony and Estelle (and Gilles) showed that Lipschitz-free Banach spaces can be more diverse than previously thought and at same time that opposition to authoritarian policies can be more diverse than previously thought. Be like them!
Trump banned important words from research - 350 of them.
So we said 🛑Touche pas à mon pote!✊ and stuffed as many of them as we could into the abstract of our new math paper. 🫵You can do the same!🫵Join the cause with your next abstract - they will have no choice but to hear us.
#AdoptCensoredWords
So we said 🛑Touche pas à mon pote!✊ and stuffed as many of them as we could into the abstract of our new math paper. 🫵You can do the same!🫵Join the cause with your next abstract - they will have no choice but to hear us.
#AdoptCensoredWords
June 6, 2025 at 1:43 PM
My friends Tony and Estelle (and Gilles) showed that Lipschitz-free Banach spaces can be more diverse than previously thought and at same time that opposition to authoritarian policies can be more diverse than previously thought. Be like them!
Reposted by Timothy Gowers
"We’re at a new point in human history,” Wagner says. Up until the last decade, “the major drivers of biodiversity losses around the planet were really land degradation and land loss, habitat loss. But I think now that climate change is by far exceeding that"
‘Half the tree of life’: ecologists’ horror as nature reserves are emptied of insects
A new point in history has been reached, entomologists say, as climate-led species’ collapse moves up the food chain even in supposedly protected regions free of pesticides
www.theguardian.com
June 5, 2025 at 7:01 AM
"We’re at a new point in human history,” Wagner says. Up until the last decade, “the major drivers of biodiversity losses around the planet were really land degradation and land loss, habitat loss. But I think now that climate change is by far exceeding that"
I wonder what the "Why don't you go and protest in China?" brigade will make of this news.
www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-cle...
www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-cle...
Analysis: Clean energy just put China’s CO2 emissions into reverse for first time - Carbon Brief
For the first time, the growth in China’s clean power generation has caused the nation’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to fall despite rapid power demand growth.
www.carbonbrief.org
May 15, 2025 at 9:16 AM
I wonder what the "Why don't you go and protest in China?" brigade will make of this news.
www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-cle...
www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-cle...
Wow, looking forward to this!
As an experiment, I tried to use automated tools to formalize (in as "mindless" a fashion as possible) a one-page human written proof into Lean. You can watch the results here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyyR...
Formalizing a proof in Lean using Github copilot and canonical
YouTube video by Terence Tao
www.youtube.com
May 11, 2025 at 10:08 AM
Wow, looking forward to this!
Suppose we accept the premise that it is important for our care workers to be home grown. There are two steps: to solve the problem that it is very difficult to recruit home-grown care workers, and to stop recruiting care workers from abroad. Who in their right mind thinks step 2 comes first?
BREAKING: “We will be closing the care worker visa for overseas recruitment” - Home Secretary Yvette Cooper
Don’t we have a desperate shortage of care workers?
Don’t we have a desperate shortage of care workers?
May 11, 2025 at 10:07 AM
Suppose we accept the premise that it is important for our care workers to be home grown. There are two steps: to solve the problem that it is very difficult to recruit home-grown care workers, and to stop recruiting care workers from abroad. Who in their right mind thinks step 2 comes first?
I'm reluctantly in favour of these experiments. I hope we never need to resort to geoengineering, but if, as seems a distinct possibility, we end up with a choice between geoengineering and catastrophe, then I'd rather we knew as much as possible about geoengineering before going ahead.
Real-world geoengineering experiments revealed by UK agency @aria-research.bsky.social
- Trials will test ways to block sunlight and slow the climate crisis, which is threatening to trigger catastrophic tipping points
#climatecrisis
Story by me
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
- Trials will test ways to block sunlight and slow the climate crisis, which is threatening to trigger catastrophic tipping points
#climatecrisis
Story by me
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Real-world geoengineering experiments revealed by UK agency
Trials will test ways to block sunlight and slow climate crisis that threatens to trigger catastrophic tipping points
www.theguardian.com
May 7, 2025 at 11:42 AM
I'm reluctantly in favour of these experiments. I hope we never need to resort to geoengineering, but if, as seems a distinct possibility, we end up with a choice between geoengineering and catastrophe, then I'd rather we knew as much as possible about geoengineering before going ahead.
Today I have received by email: one disproof of the Riemann hypothesis, one proof that P =/= NP, one proof of the Riemann hypothesis, and one proof that Peano arithmetic is inconsistent (which follows from the two Riemann hypothesis papers, but this was an independent discovery).
May 1, 2025 at 9:29 PM
Today I have received by email: one disproof of the Riemann hypothesis, one proof that P =/= NP, one proof of the Riemann hypothesis, and one proof that Peano arithmetic is inconsistent (which follows from the two Riemann hypothesis papers, but this was an independent discovery).
I'm sorry fellow Arsenal supporters, but this would not have happened without City winning two of the last three titles and Liverpool one of them. So all the pain has been for a good cause. (Also, I want Arsenal to win their first title under Arteta after a certain player has moved on.)
As Liverpool win the Premier League for the second time, they complete the opening of a quite remarkable sequence, 33 years in the making.
#Fibonacci
#Fibonacci
April 28, 2025 at 2:28 PM
I'm sorry fellow Arsenal supporters, but this would not have happened without City winning two of the last three titles and Liverpool one of them. So all the pain has been for a good cause. (Also, I want Arsenal to win their first title under Arteta after a certain player has moved on.)