/podcasts/wbu73.mp3

In this month’s episode of Wrong, But Useful, we talk to @AJMagicMessage, who is Andrew Jeffrey in real life, and one of the driving forces behind Maths Week England, which in 2019 is November 11th to 15th.

Apologies for a few issues with feedback in this episode. Dave takes full responsibility.

We discuss:

  • Number of the Podcast: 1089
  • How to get involved in Maths Week England
  • Game Theory (especially isomorphic games) and ncase.me/trust (via @LorHRL Hannah)
  • Reading: @benorlin’s Math[s] with Bad Drawings and @robeastaway’s Maths on the Back of an Envelope.
  • Via @robeastaway: further thoughts on rounding
  • Via @peterrowlett: problem-solving in the new A-level
  • Should you tie your shoes on the travelator, or on a standard walkway?
  • Shorts:
    • Big MathsJam bookings
    • Via @octonion (Christopher D Long): “I’m also curious if Haken and Appel’s original computer code for the Four Color Theorem from 1972 is still available, and if it can be run on modern hardware. It’d be a sadly missed opportunity for scientific history if it were somehow lost.”
    • Carnival of mathematics 175
    • Election coming up. We want to see your bad graphs!
  • Puzzle feedback: Late solution to the square-colouring puzzle, from Sam Steele, our favourite Antipodean listener in Carrum Downs, Australia. No answers to the pillar problem yet.
  • New puzzle: (via @cshearer41) Find the sum of the infinite series $\frac{1}{2} + \frac{1}{4} + \frac{2}{8} + \frac{3}{16} + \frac{5}{32} + \frac{8}{64} + \frac{13}{128} + \dots$ (i.e. Fibonacci on the top and powers of 2 on the bottom).

Next month is the Big MathsJam special!

* Edited 2019-11-08 to fix LaTeX