The Zeeman Medal

I’m very proud to have been awarded the 2024 Zeeman Medal for the communication of mathematics (press release here).

The medal is awarded by two esteemed organisations - the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications and the London Mathematical Society.

The prize is named after a famed British mathematician and populariser of maths, Sir Christopher Zeeman.

It has a distinguished list of previous winners and I feel a healthy amount of imposter syndrome.

I’m also well aware the award recognises the Numberphile project, which is a very large collaboration of talented people.

I’d like to make a special mention of artist/animator/editor Pete McPartlan who has been a very important part of the channel for many years.

I also used the award as an excuse to assemble THIS LIST which I hope includes all the “stars’ of Numberphile since 2011. It’s a rich source of links and rabbit holes!

The project has received financial and practical support from numerous organisations over many years, starting with YouTube itself, and also crucial backing from SL Math (formerly MSRI) and Jane Street. Brilliant has also been a long-time supporter.

And of course our Patreon supporters too!

It really is impossible to list everyone who has contributed to Numberphile.

The physical medal will be handed over next year and I will be giving a public talk in London to mark the occasion. Details of the event will be posted in due course and hope to meet some of you there.

These Numberphile stars are also past Zeeman medallists - can you name them?

The last-minute scramble for university places

At the time of writing, many UK high school students will shortly receive their A-Level results - exam grades that can decide their path into higher education.

For some the results may be surprising - better or worse than expected!

This can result in a last-minute scramble to change pre-selected university courses via a process called “clearing”.

Some might desperately consult university league tables to decide what institution is best?

With this is mind, I recorded a trilogy of videos with experts at the University of Nottingham’s School of Physics and Astronomy.

Meghan Gray, Philip Moriarty and Mike Merrifield - all three are scientists, and all three have held the post of undergraduate admissions tutor.

The first video with Phil Moriarty deals with the issue of failure, and Phil recounts his own experience at university when a passion for music resulted in failing his third year of university.

Next we take a look at university league tables - and how the whole system might be flawed.

And finally we discuss the clearing system - that mad scramble for last-minute places at university.

For those who can’t get enough, there’s also some extra footage that did not get used above but I thought was worth publishing.

And here’s a video from 11 years ago, with Mike discussing university applications.

We endeavoured to make these videos as wide-ranging and useful as possible - NOT a promotional thing for the University of Nottingham.

However, here’s the University of Nottingham’s clearing webpage if you fancy a last-minute application. ;)

And here’s the webpage for the university’s School of Physics and Astronomy.

Oh, and here’s our Sixty Symbols YouTube channel and the Deep Sky Videos YouTube channel.

A Note About Objectivity

One of my favourite video projects is in some peril.

Objectivity is the video series where we look at historic items and papers from various archives and museums.

Most (but not all) of the objects are science-related… and most (but not all) have been filmed at The Royal Society.

From 2015 to 2023 the channel received support from the Royal Society itself.

This funding made it possible to travel to London and employ the services of our excellent videographer and editor James Hennessy.

Unfortunately that funding has come to an end.

I have nothing but gratitude for the opportunity and understand that priorities change. The Royal Society has our eternal thanks for helping Objectivity come into existence.

But we would like to continue - and need some help.

Objectivity is beloved by its audience, although its viewership is smaller than other projects like Numberphile and Periodic Videos.

The channel does not have a big enough audience to sustain itself with advertising.

I think our best option is to grow its number of Patreon supporters.

We already have a great base of supporters - see them here - but would like to encourage YOU to join them by signing up here.

Patrons get access to extra material, including behind the scenes photos, hi-res images of objects and papers, and bonus footage.

And from now on, supporters at the ESTEEMED PATRON level and above will be credited on the videos (example at end of our latest video).

PLEASE JOIN OUR PATREON HERE

For those not inclined to use Patreon, you can make a one-off donation here. Any help is gratefully received.

BUT AS ALWAYS THE BEST WAY TO SUPPORT THE CHANNEL IS BY WATCHING AND SUBSCRIBING.

We are grateful to everyone who takes the time to watch the videos - we love making them.

I should note that while Royal Society funding has ceased, their generous co-operation has not. We’re still welcome to film with Keith Moore, Rupert Baker and the library team. We plan to keep visiting and show you more treasures from the society’s wonderful store rooms.

The society staff have been incredibly helpful and patient with us over many years - they are superstars.

We also hope to go further afield and show you more treasures from other collections. (We have already been to some cool places, like NASA and a mummy’s resting place)

And we also hope to keep bringing you special guests like those featured in this ever-growing playlist.

Dressed to Impress

Thanks Jennese for this great email (and pictures of Nathaniel). It relates to Periodic Videos and our beloved Professor Martyn Poliakoff.

“My son Nathaniel is 7, he is a huge fan of the show! He loves learning about the elements and seeing all of the different experiments. For Halloween this year he wanted to be the Professor!

“He insisted on having his very own elements tie and has refused to take it off since last night.

“Thank you for all of the work you do. Your videos are amazing and far reaching! We live outside of Chicago Illinois in the U.S. Not only has he learned the whole periodic table and started building his own stick and ball compounds, I have learned all kinds of new facts myself. I hope this finds all of you well. We enjoy your show so much and look forward to new videos to come!

“Thanks again!”

And while I think of it, here’s a thank you “card” scribbled by an audience member during a recent public lecture given by The Prof.

A Nice Email

A perk of this job is occasionally receiving nice emails from strangers.

This one is from Nathan in Australia - it’s shared with his permission and I have added some links.

SUBJECT: Peter Haran in Vietnam 50th anniversary commemoration speech

Hi Brady,

My name is Nathan, and I work as a speechwriter for the Australian government. Recently, I was asked to write the national commemorative address to mark 50 years since the end of the Vietnam War.

I’ve been a fan of your work for many years, and was quite moved by the stories you posted with your father retelling his time in Vietnam. I re-visited them during my research for the speech. This led me to research your father a little more and it lead me to an oral history project he participated in some 20 years ago. At the end he was asked something along the line of how he would like future generations to remember the war and he said:

“The Vietnam War reflected Australia’s character. It showed all the good things about Australians under extreme, extraordinary conditions.”

I know it was just two quick sentences, but after all my research I felt it nicely captured a sentiment among the veteran community and was something that might resonate with them, so I included his quote (with attribution) in the speech. I was pleased to see when I attended the ceremony today that the Minister elected to keep the quote.

I wish I could have featured more of your father’s story in the speech, but sadly we’re always limited in what we can say. But just wanted to drop you a line to thank you for sharing his story. I think he, and the people he served alongside, were really remarkable people, and it’s sad that it took so long for their service to be properly recognised.

 Anyway, thought you might appreciate hearing about that, and please also pass on my gratitude to your father for sharing is story and for the service he gave our country.

 Many thanks,

Nathan

PS: Here is a link to the full speech the minister delivered: https://minister.dva.gov.au/news-and-media/minister/vietnam-veterans-day-national-commemorative-service

Private Denis Ferguson with dog Marcus and Private Peter Haran with dog Caesar

A Reaction Video Squared

Numberphile viewers may be familiar with The Parker Square - an ill-fated mathematical construction by Matt Parker.

Well, recently I recorded a follow-up video with mathematician Tony Várilly-Alvarado.

He explained that the elusive “3x3 Magic Square of Squares” may be impossible!

A crumb of comfort for Matt perhaps?

I wanted Matt’s reaction, so asked him to film a “reaction video”.

Enamoured by the farce of it all, I also asked Matt to record a reaction to his reaction.

Matt obliged, and added some great little gags (love the popcorn move!)

Your Name on the Wall

People who support our chemistry channel (Periodic Videos) via Patreon receive an unusual perk.

Their names are included on our unique Periodic Table of Patrons, which is regularly updated and shared on our website.

But the next version (*) will also be printed out and adorn the wall of Professor Martyn Poliakoff’s office.

Sir Martyn has an assortment of Periodic Tables on his office walls - and this will be a welcome addition.

So if you’d like to be part of it (and support our endeavours), go to Patreon and choose your element.

You can choose an element that’s already “supported” - or maybe be the first person to support an unloved element like Mercury, Magnesium, or even Gold!

If you already support the project, you could move to a different element for posterity on the Prof’s wall!?

(*) the first version to be printed will be the one at the end of March and start of April 2023… While the online table will be updated monthly as usual, the hard copy office-mounted version will only be updated occasionally!

PERIODIC VIDEOS PATREON

Below is the March 2023 version - the next version will be the one we put on The Prof’s wall!