The Aperiodical

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A roundup of what's attracting attention over at The Aperiodical with Christian Perfect, Peter Rowlett and Katie Steckles. Find out what posts are attracting the attention of our readers, causing comment or piquing our interest this week. The Aperiodical is a mathematics magazine/blog aimed at people interested in mathematics who want to read stuff. We post news stories related to maths, opinion pieces, interesting things we’ve found, accounts of monthly MathsJams, maths videos, and feature articles, as well as posts from our own blogs. We also host the Carnival of Mathematics, a monthly blogging carnival.

Christian Perfect, Peter Rowlett and Katie Steckles


    • Dec 20, 2024 LATEST EPISODE
    • every other week NEW EPISODES
    • 22m AVG DURATION
    • 92 EPISODES


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    Latest episodes from The Aperiodical

    Mathematical Objects: Universe of cake

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 20, 2024 21:42


    A conversation about mathematics inspired by Lewis Carroll's Game of Logic. Presented by Katie Steckles and Peter Rowlett.

    Mathematical Objects: An object with Tai-Danae Bradley

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 6, 2024 21:40


    A conversation about mathematics inspired by … an object. Presented by Katie Steckles and Peter Rowlett, with special guest Tai-Danae Bradley. Katie mentions Peter's The unplanned impact of mathematics, free to read at Nature.

    nature objects mathematical danae katie steckles peter rowlett
    Mathematical Objects: Borges’ Library of Babel

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 22, 2024 14:53


    A conversation about infinity inspired by The Library of Babel by Jorge Luis Borges. Presented by Katie Steckles and Peter Rowlett.

    Mathematical Objects: Parallelepiped with Ayliean MacDonald

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 8, 2024 32:47


    A conversation about mathematics inspired by a very special parallelepiped. Presented by Katie Steckles and Peter Rowlett, with special guest Ayliean.

    objects macdonald mathematical katie steckles peter rowlett
    Mathematical Objects: An area the size of Wales

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 25, 2024 29:41


    A conversation about mathematics inspired by an area the size of Wales. Presented by Katie Steckles and Peter Rowlett.

    wales objects mathematical katie steckles peter rowlett
    Mathematical Objects: A ballot with Sam Hansen

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 11, 2024 38:30


    A conversation about election mathematics inspired by a ballot. Presented by Katie Steckles and Peter Rowlett, with special guest Sam Hansen. For more from Sam and the Carry the Two podcast check out this episode about Mathematics and Voting.

    Mathematical Objects: Space-filling curves

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 27, 2024 20:48


    A conversation about mathematics inspired by a space-filling curve. Presented by Katie Steckles and Peter Rowlett.

    space filling objects curves mathematical katie steckles peter rowlett
    Mathematical Objects: Low bridge sign with Adam Townsend

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 13, 2024 36:25


    A conversation about mathematics inspired by a low bridge sign. Presented by Katie Steckles and Peter Rowlett, with special guest Adam Townsend. The plot discussed around 11 minutes and various other photos are available on Adam's Height Hunt website (spoilers for the episode's twists and turns!).

    bridge objects mathematical adam townsend katie steckles peter rowlett
    Mathematical Objects: Post-season 7 update

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 10, 2023 6:15


    A short update from Katie and Peter.

    Mathematical Objects: Mathematics in Theory and Practice, edited by Warwick Sawyer

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 8, 2023 28:56


    A conversation about mathematics inspired by an old textbook, Mathematics in Theory and Practice, edited by Warwick Sawyer. Presented by Katie Steckles and Peter Rowlett.

    Mathematical Objects: Scone with Sophie Maclean

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 25, 2023 20:02


    A conversation about mathematics inspired by a scone. Presented by Katie Steckles and Peter Rowlett, with special guest Sophie Maclean.

    objects maclean mathematical scone katie steckles peter rowlett
    Mathematical Objects: Joukowsky aerofoil

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 11, 2023 11:01


    A conversation about mathematics inspired by the Joukowsky aerofoil. Presented by Katie Steckles and Peter Rowlett.

    objects mathematical aerofoil katie steckles peter rowlett
    Mathematical Objects: Guitar with Sam Hartburn

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 28, 2023 24:06


    A conversation about mathematics inspired by a guitar. Presented by Katie Steckles and Peter Rowlett, with special guest Sam Hartburn.

    guitar objects mathematical katie steckles peter rowlett
    Mathematical Objects: On-Sets

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 14, 2023 18:04


    A conversation about mathematics inspired by a 1960s game designed to teach set theory. Presented by Katie Steckles and Peter Rowlett. On-Sets: A Vintage Set Theory Game by Peter Rowlett is free to read in Math Horizons.

    objects mathematical katie steckles peter rowlett
    Mathematical Objects: A book with Sarah Hart

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 30, 2023 29:08


    A conversation about mathematics and literature inspired by a book. Presented by Katie Steckles and Peter Rowlett with special guest Sarah Hart, author of Once Upon a Prime: The Wondrous Connections Between Mathematics and Literature.

    literature objects mathematical sarah hart katie steckles peter rowlett
    Mathematical Objects: Battenberg cake

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 16, 2023 18:20


    A conversation about mathematics inspired by a Battenberg cake. Presented by Katie Steckles and Peter Rowlett.

    cake objects mathematical battenberg katie steckles peter rowlett
    Mathematical Objects: Aperiodic monotile with Chaim Goodman-Strauss

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 2, 2023 37:07


    A conversation about mathematics inspired by the new aperiodic monotile. Presented by Katie Steckles and Peter Rowlett, with special guest Chaim Goodman-Strauss. The paper announcing the discovery is An aperiodic monotile by David Smith, Joseph Samuel Myers, Craig S. Kaplan and Chaim Goodman-Strauss. Chaim was recording from MoMath in New York, which will be running…

    Mathematical Objects: Fingers with Ben Orlin

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 15, 2022 32:19


    A conversation about mathematics inspired by some fingers. Presented by Katie Steckles and Peter Rowlett, with special guest Ben Orlin. Ben's new book is Math Games with Bad Drawings.

    fingers objects mathematical orlin katie steckles peter rowlett
    Mathematical Objects: Quarto

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 1, 2022 24:38


    A conversation about mathematics inspired by the game Quarto. Presented by Katie Steckles and Peter Rowlett.

    objects quarto mathematical katie steckles peter rowlett
    Mathematical Objects: Slinky

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 17, 2022 14:15


    A conversation about mathematics inspired by a slinky. Presented by Katie Steckles and Peter Rowlett.

    objects mathematical slinky katie steckles peter rowlett
    Mathematical Objects: Nodal cubic with Angela Tabiri

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 3, 2022 24:13


    A conversation about mathematics inspired by the nodal cubic. Presented by Katie Steckles and Peter Rowlett. We go closer to the cutting edge of research than usual in this chat with Angela Tabiri about her PhD research.

    phd objects mathematical nodal cubic katie steckles peter rowlett
    Mathematical Objects: PageRank

    Play Episode Listen Later May 20, 2022 22:22


    A conversation about mathematics inspired by the PageRank algorithm. Presented by Katie Steckles and Peter Rowlett.

    objects mathematical pagerank katie steckles peter rowlett
    Mathematical Objects: A joke with Bec Hill

    Play Episode Listen Later May 6, 2022 34:35


    A conversation about mathematics inspired by a joke. Presented by Katie Steckles and Peter Rowlett, with special guest Bec Hill.

    joke objects mathematical bec hill katie steckles peter rowlett
    Mathematical Objects: Hairy ball

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 22, 2022 20:02


    A conversation about mathematics inspired by a hairy ball. Presented by Katie Steckles and Peter Rowlett.

    objects hairy mathematical katie steckles peter rowlett
    Mathematical Objects: Superegg with Hannah Fry

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 8, 2022 25:12


    A conversation about mathematics inspired by a superegg. Presented by Katie Steckles and Peter Rowlett, with special guest Hannah Fry.

    objects mathematical hannah fry katie steckles peter rowlett
    Mathematical Objects: A sheep, at least one side of which is black

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 27, 2021 18:56


    A conversation about mathematical jokes, humour and folklore inspired by a sheep, at least one side of which is black. Presented by Katie Steckles and Peter Rowlett. The jokes sent to Peter on Twitter that we mention can be found in the replies to this tweet.

    black sheep objects mathematical katie steckles peter rowlett
    Mathematical Objects: Plate of biscuits with Alison Kiddle

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 13, 2021 25:19


    A conversation about mathematics inspired by a plate of biscuits. Presented by Katie Steckles and Peter Rowlett, with special guest Alison Kiddle. What do you notice? What do you wonder? Alison's Noticing and wondering page. We also mentioned A Problem Squared Episode 014 = Final Cheese Drama and Quick-Fire-O-Rama. You can see Peter's kitchen floor…

    plate objects noticing biscuits mathematical kiddle katie steckles peter rowlett
    Mathematical Objects: Spirograph

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 30, 2021 13:34


    A conversation about mathematics inspired by a Spirograph set. Presented by Katie Steckles and Peter Rowlett. Katie's Spirograph GeoGebra file.

    objects mathematical spirograph katie steckles peter rowlett
    Mathematical Objects: Balancing bird with Alom Shaha

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 16, 2021 20:21


    A conversation about mathematics inspired by a balancing bird. Presented by Katie Steckles and Peter Rowlett, with special guest Alom Shaha. Alom's video and template about the balancing bird.

    balancing objects mathematical alom alom shaha katie steckles peter rowlett
    Mathematical Objects: UUID 0412a969-5b27-4c28-9662-85ef2c201e0c

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 2, 2021 13:55


    A conversation about mathematics inspired by UUID 0412a969-5b27-4c28-9662-85ef2c201e0c. Presented by Katie Steckles and Peter Rowlett.

    objects mathematical katie steckles peter rowlett
    Mathematical Objects: Auctioneer’s Hammer with Tim Harford

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 18, 2021 30:14


    A conversation about mathematics inspired by an auctioneer's hammer. Presented by Katie Steckles and Peter Rowlett, with special guest Tim Harford.

    Mathematical Objects: Dobble

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 4, 2021 19:43


    A conversation about mathematics inspired by cards from the game Dobble. Presented by Katie Steckles and Peter Rowlett. You can read more about Katie's adventures in golfing combinatorics.

    objects mathematical dobble katie steckles peter rowlett
    Mathematical Objects: Arbelos with Catriona Agg

    Play Episode Listen Later May 21, 2021 28:42


    A conversation about mathematics inspired by an arbelos. Presented by Katie Steckles and Peter Rowlett, with special guest Catriona Agg. Catriona mentions this proof without words, which is taken from Proof Without Words: The Area of an Arbelos by Roger B. Nelsen in Mathematics Magazine.

    objects mathematical katie steckles peter rowlett
    Mathematical Objects: Christmas crackers

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 25, 2020 21:08


    A conversation about mathematics inspired by a box of Christmas crackers. Presented by Katie Steckles and Peter Rowlett. Merry Christmas!

    Mathematical Objects: Enigma machine with Tom Briggs

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 11, 2020 37:24


    A conversation about mathematics inspired by an Enigma machine. Presented by Katie Steckles and Peter Rowlett, with special guest Tom Briggs.

    objects enigma mathematical enigma machine katie steckles peter rowlett
    Mathematical Objects: Solids of constant width

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 27, 2020 10:45


    A conversation about mathematics inspired by some solids of constant width. Presented by Katie Steckles and Peter Rowlett.

    constant objects mathematical width solids katie steckles peter rowlett
    Mathematical Objects: Ball of wool with Pat Ashforth

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 13, 2020 29:39


    A conversation about mathematics inspired by a ball of wool (yarn). Presented by Katie Steckles and Peter Rowlett, with special guest Pat Ashforth.

    objects wool mathematical katie steckles peter rowlett
    Mathematical Objects: Lottery machine

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 30, 2020 25:16


    A conversation about mathematics inspired by a lottery machine. Presented by Katie Steckles and Peter Rowlett.

    lottery objects mathematical katie steckles peter rowlett
    Mathematical Objects: Klein bottle with Matthew Scroggs

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 16, 2020 24:08


    A conversation about mathematics inspired by a Klein bottle and Mathsteroids. Presented by Katie Steckles and Peter Rowlett, with special guest Matthew Scroggs. Play Mathsteriods!

    bottle klein objects mathematical katie steckles peter rowlett
    Mathematical Objects: A hat

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 2, 2020 17:11


    A conversation about mathematics inspired by a hat. Presented by Katie Steckles and Peter Rowlett.

    objects mathematical katie steckles peter rowlett
    Mathematical Objects: Hundred square with Susan Okereke

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 18, 2020 32:23


    A conversation about mathematics and education inspired by a hundred square. Presented by Katie Steckles and Peter Rowlett, with special guest Susan Okereke. In the episode, we mentioned the original Prime Climb colouring sheet and Peter's Prime Climb colouring sheet on GitHub as drawing-primes.

    square objects github hundred mathematical katie steckles peter rowlett
    Mathematical Objects: Twenty Pence coin

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 28, 2020 14:07


    A conversation about mathematics inspired by a Twenty Pence coin. Presented by Katie Steckles and Peter Rowlett.

    Mathematical Objects: A vehicle with Christopher Danielson

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 14, 2020 31:48


    A conversation about mathematics inspired by a vehicle. Presented by Katie Steckles and Peter Rowlett, with special guest Christopher Danielson.

    vehicles objects mathematical danielson katie steckles peter rowlett
    Mathematical Objects: Möbius band

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 31, 2020 17:10


    A conversation about mathematics inspired by a Möbius band. Presented by Katie Steckles and Peter Rowlett.

    band objects mathematical katie steckles peter rowlett
    Mathematical Objects: Mandala with Hana Ayoob

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 17, 2020 16:11


    A conversation about mathematics inspired by a mandala. Presented by Katie Steckles and Peter Rowlett, with special guest Hana Ayoob.

    objects mathematical mandala ayoob katie steckles peter rowlett
    Mathematical Objects: Acoustic mirrors with James Grime

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 3, 2020 16:27


    A conversation about mathematics inspired by acoustic mirrors. Presented by Katie Steckles and Peter Rowlett, with special guest James Grime. Image: WW1 Acoustic Mirror, Kilnsea; cc-by-sa/2.0 – © Paul Glazzard.

    mirrors objects acoustic mathematical james grime katie steckles peter rowlett
    Mathematical Objects: Number block cubes

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 19, 2020 17:50


    A conversation about mathematics inspired by number block cubes/snap cubes. Presented by Katie Steckles and Peter Rowlett. Peter's blog post: Mathematical play with young children. Mike Lawler's three-tweet thread of more advanced ideas starts here:

    objects mathematical cubes mike lawler katie steckles peter rowlett
    Mathematical Objects: Rubik’s Cube

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 5, 2020 21:54


    A conversation about mathematics inspired by a Rubik's Cube. Presented by Katie Steckles and Peter Rowlett.

    cube objects rubik mathematical katie steckles peter rowlett
    Mathematical Objects: D&D Dice

    Play Episode Listen Later May 22, 2020 20:26


    A conversation about mathematics inspired by a set of D&D dice. Presented by Katie Steckles and Peter Rowlett.

    dice objects mathematical katie steckles peter rowlett
    Mathematical Objects: Season 3 ‘trailer’

    Play Episode Listen Later May 12, 2020 3:39


    Katie and Peter give a little update on the podcast, life in lockdown and the upcoming season/series 3.

    Mathematical Objects: Robot caterpillar

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 28, 2020 17:22


    A conversation about combinatorics, the mathematics of counting, inspired by a robot caterpillar. Presented by Katie Steckles and Peter Rowlett.

    robots objects caterpillar mathematical katie steckles peter rowlett

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