Maths in Action
On November 14, 35 Year 12 and 13 budding mathematicians from Harington School travelled to the University of Warwick to participate in Maths in Action. This exciting day featured a series of lectures, each focusing on a different aspect of maths, and how maths can reach far beyond the classroom.
The first talk of the day was about the BLOODHOUND project, this global engineering Adventure is using a 1,000mph World Land Speed Record in an attempt to inspire the next generation to enjoy and get involved with not just maths, but science, technology and engineering too.
The next talk which stood out to our Students was about the importance of statistics in medical law. The talk was about drug research, and the statistics involved in this. It focused on two different drugs, Vioxx and Vigabatrin. This was an unusual area of maths to explore and definitely made students see how maths is crucial to daily life.
Bobby Seagull, Maths Scholar and former contestant on University Challenge, gave an incredible talk on the 2008 Financial Crisis. He spoke about how he predicted it, due to Lehman Brothers not buying stationary, and to him as an employee, this rang massive warning bells. He explained how the crisis occurred and despite insurances on loans and collateralized debt obligations, Lehman Brothers still went into administration.
It was a really interesting day and the different uses for maths in the real world certainly made the students understand how diverse the subject is.
