Dr Tom Crawford

Some snaps from a weekend at Palacio de Magdalena ahead of the UIMP conference next week. I’ll be running a workshop on science communication and then giving a talk on my research into the spread of pollution in the ocean. Probably the most impressive venue I’ve visited for an academic conference!

TRM Essay Competition 2025 – Group XI The eleventh group of essays from the 2025 TRM Essay Competition, now proudly held in partnership with the Oxford University Department for Continuing Education. The showcase will take place throug…

An accidental space-theme for Group 11 of the 2025 TRM Essay Showcase starts with calculating the efficiency of the Starship Enterprise, and ends with a look inside the core of a black hole. Plus the usual fun of dinosaur dynamics, surfaces that shouldn't exist, and surviving the Josephus problem...

YouTube video by Tom Rocks Maths Numbers vs. Words Round 7: 676 vs. OMG

NEW VIDEO: Do you know what a palindromic number is? What about a palindromic square? And how old is the acronym OMG?

It's time for Round 7 of Numbers vs. Words where Tom and @susiedent.com go to head to head in a battle for your vote.

Select your favourite here: tomrocksmaths.com/2025/08/01/n...

Pulling some absolute faces in these photos from the MEI Conference earlier this month - but clearly loving every minute on stage! Always a real pleasure to be able to meet fellow maths teachers helping to shape the minds of tomorrow. Keep up the excellent work :)

TRM Essay Competition 2025 – Group X The tenth group of essays from the 2025 TRM Essay Competition, now proudly held in partnership with the Oxford University Department for Continuing Education. The showcase will take place throughou…

Another day another set of entertaining, enlightening and downright excellent essays for you to enjoy! Group 10 in the 2025 TRM Essay Competition Showcase features edge detection, gaming controllers, the totient function, mathematical duels, and folding paper to reach the moon (naturally). Have fun!

​​Mic drop! Livin’ On a Prayer is crowned the ultimate karaoke song A really fun project Tom worked on with Three UK and Samaritans to identify the UK’s favourite karaoke songs based on data from a survey of 2000 people across the country. New research from T…

More info here: tomrocksmaths.com/2025/07/29/m...

Maths + Karaoke = the ultimate mood-booster! Working with Three UK and Samaritans I’ve developed a formula to rank the top 30 ‘Kathartic Karaoke’ songs mathematically proven to boost endorphins and improve your mood. Maths has never sounded so good!

They let me present the‬ @oxlifelonglearning.bsky.social awards again, so naturally I made everyone play a few rounds of Countdown… any takers on 903?

Such a fun evening, and a great reminder of why this is the best department I’ve ever worked in - congratulations to all the well-deserved winners!

TRM Essay Competition 2025 – Group IX The ninth group of essays from the 2025 TRM Essay Competition, now proudly held in partnership with the Oxford University Department for Continuing Education. The showcase will take place throughou…

A real diverse range of topics in group 9 of the 2025 TRM Essay Competition Showcase. We start with calculating the probabilities of poker hands, before moving on to the maths of facial recognition, computers made from matchboxes, Magnus Carlsen vs The World, and the cost of congestion in the UK...

I climbed Mount Huashan from the ground to the 5(!) peaks and back down. Going to go lie down for a week or so…

Apparently I walked 22 miles in 47,597 steps, which averages at 2163 per mile putting me in the middle of the average of 2000-2500 per mile.

I’ve been fortunate to visit some incredible places but this is unreal. 8,000 soldiers and 670 horses sculpted out of terracotta and painted by hand. The Terracotta Army depicts the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China, and has the purpose of protecting him in the afterlife.

Ran the full length of the city walls in Xi’an (for some reason) complete with many excellent gatehouses and temples. You can see the deterioration in my selfies and pace for the last section so we will not be working out my pace. Probably something to do with the 35 degree heat…

YouTube video by Tom Rocks Maths The Man Who Almost Said No to the Biggest Prize in Mathematics - Ngô Bảo Châu (2010 Fields Medal)

NEW VIDEO: Hear the incredible story of Ngô Bảo Châu. The first Fields Medalist from Vietnam, who almost turned it down due to the effect he knew it would have on his life. Without a doubt one of the best interviews I've ever done.

Premieres today at 4pm (GMT+1).
www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_Z2...

A completely expected - and let's be honest, deserved - victory for "Arseropes" and @susiedent.com in Round 6 of Numbers vs. Words.

If you've missed any of the rounds so far you can watch them all on the playlist here: www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...

Look out for Round 7 coming later this week!

Old meets new at Bahrain Fort (last photo = ruins + skyline).

Archaeological excavations have unearthed 7 layers dating from 2300 BC to 18th Century Persians. The layers cover a depth of 12m, so assuming a linear relationship between depth and time, how deep were the Persian relics buried?

TRM Essay Competition 2025 – Group VIII The eighth group of essays from the 2025 TRM Essay Competition, now proudly held in partnership with the Oxford University Department for Continuing Education. The showcase will take place througho…

Group 8 in the 2025 TRM Essay Showcase brings the usual eclectic mix of mathematics and madness. Estimating the volume of the Eiffel Tower on a napkin? Check. Predicting the UK weather using Markov Chains? Check. Using Fluid mechanics to understand swing bowling? Check.

Enjoy them all below :)

Al Fateh Grand Mosque in Bahrain. The largest mosque in the country capable of holding 11,000 people, or approximately 1% of the total Muslim population of Bahrain. If the population of Bahrain is ~1.5 million, what proportion is Muslim?

Another fun-filled afternoon talking all things maths with the students at St Clare’s Oxford Summer School. Well done to the budding mathematicians that figured out the countdown puzzle - and thank you for your suggestions of new maths exams for me try out! Argentina, Greece and Morocco next up…

When you find yourself on the wall of fame at your Oxford College…

Throwback to 2018 and the all-conquering St John’s men’s football team. League champions and winners of Team of the Year at the Sports Dinner. I reckon I could still do a job in a deep-lying midfield role…

This was the first-ever CS50 Hackathon at Meta in London 🇬🇧, with workshops on AI, Llama, Wearables, and Number Games by CS50’s own @davidjmalan.bsky.social and Rongxin Liu, Oxford’s own @tomrocksmaths.bsky.social, et al. 💻

Numbers vs. Words Round 6: 70 vs. Arseropes The sixth round in a new video series – “Numbers vs. Words” – where Dr Tom Crawford and Susie Dent share some of their favourite numbers/words in a battle for your vote.

Vote here: tomrocksmaths.com/2025/07/16/n...

YouTube video by Tom Rocks Maths Numbers vs. Words Round 6: 70 vs. Arseropes

Numbers vs. Words Round 6: Arseropes vs. 70

It's a battle between "weird" numbers and a term used in the Bible to mean "intestines"...

Watch the video to learn more and then vote for your favourite in the poll (link in comments).

TRM Essay Competition 2025 – Group VII The seventh group of essays from the 2025 TRM Essay Competition, now proudly held in partnership with the Oxford University Department for Continuing Education. The showcase will take place through…

Another excellent selection of essays for you to enjoy with group 7 of the Tom Rocks Maths Essay Competition 2025 Showcase.

Featuring movement in Minecraft, pixel me versus pixel wizard, and triangles with angles that add up to 270 degrees. Happy reading!

Incredible energy from the Bluebridge students during my talk on Mathematical Modelling in Sport. We looked at the geometry behind penalty kicks, predicting marathon world records, and of course a few rounds of Countdown! Thanks for being such a fun audience :)

Loving these photos by Mr Velk from the Ratio event last weekend in Sofia. I explained the Maths behind my mathematical-themed tattoos to a packed audience in the garden area of a local bar, which makes it probably the coolest talk I’ve ever done :)

The comeback begins... a very close call in Round 5 but 3999 (the largest number that can be written in standard Roman Numerals) just shaves it to bring Numbers back within 1 of Words.

@tomrocksmaths.bsky.social 2 - 3 @susiedent.com

Look out for Round 6 coming early next week!

Just look at all these amazing maths teachers educating the mathematicians of tomorrow - the excitement levels are off the scale!! Great fun to meet everyone at the Connecting the Dots conference in London. I can’t wait to see how you build storytelling into your next maths lesson :)

YouTube video by Numberphile The Big Daddy of Infinite Integrals - Numberphile

NEW NUMBERPHILE VIDEO: The infamous infinite integral exp(x^2) from minus infinity to infinity. You'll likely have seen the result before, but do you know where it comes from, and more importantly, how to show it's true?

One of my favourite results in calculus - enjoy!

My podcast episode with @chazingdra.bsky.social is out now! Listen to me tell the story of my life through the lens of Pokémon - from solving late night multiplication problems as an 8-year old, to my recent experience on Countdown.

Listen at the link below :)
open.spotify.com/episode/6yzg...

TOMORROW! 🤩

Don’t miss this week’s Chazingdra Chats featuring maths content creator & Pokémon lover @tomrocksmaths.bsky.social - as recently seen on Channel 4’s Countdown!

Discover his fascinating life story & 6 Dream Team Pokémon…

Available early morning on audio apps, 3pm UK YouTube! Links ⬇️