@tomrocksmaths.bsky.social
Mathematician at Oxford and Cambridge. 225,000 on YouTube. Numberphile. Tom Rocks Maths. Countdown.
Another packed lecture theatre to kick off the Vice-Chancellor’s Colloquium on AI @ox.ac.uk. Featuring Bilbo Baggins use of ChatGPT, and the maths of decision trees via the CS50 inspired example of the retro video game Breakout. Excited to see what you all make of the course!
28.01.2026 20:47 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0Oh this is literally the topic of my Numberphile video on Pokemon… amazing!
28.01.2026 20:46 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
With the eastern US winter storm, we wanted to share some snowflake activities. Older students may enjoy @tomrocksmaths.bsky.social's Koch Snowflake discussion www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaXn...; for younger students read on to the comments.
25.01.2026 00:18 — 👍 3 🔁 1 💬 1 📌 0
My Tuesday summarised in 3 photos: getting tattooed; supervising Cambridge University in Quantum Theory; and attending formal dinner @robinsoncollege.bsky.social to welcome three new fellows. Who knew this is where maths would take me… but so grateful it did!
27.01.2026 22:10 — 👍 1 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
Tattoo #70 - Marathon du Médoc. The most fun I've ever had running 26.2 miles - probably due to the wine... Can you guess the theme?
26.01.2026 20:02 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
The comeback for Numbers continues with a victory for 37 and Optimal Stopping Theory, over Passenger and the “intrusive N” in Round 15. Thanks to everyone that voted - keep a look out for Round 16 next week!
And don't forget you can watch all the rounds so far here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=FC2W...
NEW VIDEO with Twinkl: www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUl1...
How to engage students with maths through curiosity and culture - this was a very fun conversation for me so I hope you enjoy watching/listening too :)
NEW VIDEO: Part 2 of my chat with Sanjeev Arora - Lead at Princeton AI - discussing the quest to create a "superhuman AI mathematician".
Premieres today at 7pm (GMT) - see you in the live chat!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKj2...
Great to kick-off the Vice-Chancellors Colloquium on Climate today where 300 undergraduates will hear from world leading experts on climate over the next 8 weeks.
Today was all about the causes of climate change and a quick fire lesson in causation versus correlation from yours truly :)
Such a fun evening talking to everyone tonight at the Penguin non-fiction showcase in London. I can’t wait to share the final version with you all in 9 months time :)
20.01.2026 23:19 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0I’ve signed up to do a half marathon in a few months - with a mathematical twist of course, more on that in the next few weeks - but it does mean with my recent travels I’ve found myself running on sand a lot. Turns out, you use 1.6x more energy than on a hard surface. No wonder it’s been tough!
19.01.2026 23:37 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
NEW VIDEO: Asking Sanjeev Arora, Princeton Professor and 2011 ACM Prize in Computing recipient, how he ranked number 1 in the JEE - said to be the world's hardest exam.
18.01.2026 12:20 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
A successful writing retreat on the beaches of Senegal featuring multiple sunsets and the world’s easiest game of hot dogs or legs. 105,000 words on the maths of fantasy worlds submitted - now for the edits…
17.01.2026 21:53 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Excited to be hosting the European Mathematical Society Lecture Series on Mathematics Education with Prof. Ann Dooms (pictured) over the next 6 months, featuring some VERY big names (full schedule below).
Watch the first webinar with Anna Stokke from 'Chalk & Talk': www.youtube.com/watch?v=bguw...
NEW VIDEO: Numbers vs. Words Round 15 - Passenger vs. 37
The "intrusive N" of the English language versus Optimal Stopping Theory and the mathematical way to date. Which is your favourite?
Vote here: forms.gle/orYx5Pmp8VLq...
13.01.2026 18:06 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Tattoos 68 and 69 - Cascade badge and Boulder badge. Which completes the set of all 8 gym badges from Generation I and the Kanto region. Gotta catch ‘em all!
13.01.2026 18:05 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
And now the other side of Gorée Island - forts, palaces, beaches and palm trees. Such is the rich culture of the island, it was in the first 12 locations to be designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1978. There are now a 1248 such sites across 170 countries, putting Gorée in the first 1%.
12.01.2026 16:51 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Some photos from my visit to Gorée Island - the centre of the Atlantic slave trade.
Words don’t do it justice so perhaps numbers will. 12.5 million human beings were captured and transported thousands of miles from their homes, never to return.
A sobering reminder of the darkness of our past.
The results are in for round 14 of Numbers vs. Words, and it's a victory for "Googol" over "Welsh Rarebit". Thanks to everyone that voted - keep a look out for round 15 coming soon :)
And don't forget if you've missed any of the rounds so far, rewatch them all here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=53Jf...
Taking a break from writing about Pokémon coat patterns to go see animal coat patterns in the wild. Stripes occur when the domain size is restricted, whilst spots develop for larger domains - which is why you’ll never see a spotted tail and a striped body. At least not in the real world…
08.01.2026 21:05 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
To celebrate finishing the first draft of the final chapter of my upcoming popular maths book, here are some of the diagrams and maths topics featured in chapter 7. Any ideas which fantasy worlds each of them might be relevant to?
07.01.2026 18:32 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Tattoo #67 - the only way to commemorate my stint on the show. It’s probably only fair the rest of the team get one now too…
06.01.2026 19:13 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Learn more about my favourite equations, and why discovering the situations that cause them to break might be the key to unlocking their million-dollar secrets - now available for free with @newscientist.com at the link below.
institutions.newscientist.com/article/2491...
POV: you’re the last one on the mountain
The perfect end to a perfect week on the mountain. 310 km covered across 6 days, with more than 50,000 metres of descent, and a top speed of 60 kmph. Lots of data for me to analyse on the flight home :)
NEW VIDEO: Start 2026 in the best way possible with the latest round of Numbers vs. Words: Googol from Dr Tom versus Welsh rarebit from @susiedentwords.bsky.social.
Which do you prefer - the largest named number, or Welsh cheese on toast? Vote here: forms.gle/WpNjAQZbnEaL...
And the number 1 post for Tom Rocks Maths in 2025 is... the TRM Essay Competition!! Running now for 6 years, with over 1000 essays submitted to date, the TRM Essay Competition gives YOU the chance to showcase your passion for mathematics and win prizes.
Lookout for the 2026 launch in February :)
The perfect way to end the year = on the mountain. We managed to cover 55 km today over 7 hours, with an average speed of 22 kmph. What proportion of the time was spent skiing (as opposed to queuing and travelling on lifts)?
30.12.2025 19:53 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
The 2nd most popular page on Tom Rocks Maths in 2025 is... Interns! I love working with students to produce maths communication material and the Micro-internship Programme at Oxford is the perfect setup. 1 week to learn the ropes and produce content. Top posts here:
tomrocksmaths.com/2025/12/26/2...
The 3rd most popular on Tom Rocks Maths in 2025 is... Tattoos. I've posted short explanations of 66 of them so far, with at least that many more to come.
Check out the gallery for yourself here: tomrocksmaths.com/tattoos/
