So I’m training to be a mathematician. More specifically I’m currently a PhD students in mathematics. I really, really love maths but I think the way it’s taught in schools is really, really bad. You’re learning about things like calculus or trigonometry, but rarely are you learning about the really cool or mindblowing mathematical facts. And that makes a bit of pedagogical sense. I could tell you a math fact but unless you have that base of mathematical knowledge, you wouldn’t know why it’s true.
Still, I always loved it when my teachers took a day out to teach us about something weird and fascinating. Learning about trigonometry or calculus can be fun, but it’s mostly like learning how to use a screwdriver. Important if you’re learning how to build a car, but if you’ve never seen a car before in your life the screwdriver will seem pointless.
So I wanted to talk about some of my favorite math facts, theorems and objects here. I won’t go into much detail about why any of this stuff is true, but I will talk about why they’re really cool. And I hope you get some appreciation for the weird and wonderful mathematics that’s out there. If you want higher quality math content, some of my favorite math youtube channels include Stand -up Maths, 3 Blue 1 Brown and Numberphile. Do channels with millions of subscribers need a signal boost from me? No, but eh, it’s my void. Anyways, onto some fun math facts.
