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something that has bugged me for many years. Back in 1992 I wrote ‘What is a googly?’, aimed at reaching non-cricketers, and explaining to them why some people love this game. My latest book, ‘How many socks make a pair?’ is trying to do the same for maths.
In other words, "Socks" is my new "Googly".
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of one's ability to actually play the game.
I see a strong parallel here with mathematics, for while there are some aspects of maths that are revealed to very few, there are others that can be enjoyed at all levels. Fermat’s Last Theorem is an example. Only a handful of mathematicians were able to understand Andrew Wiles’ proof, yet the problem posed by Fermat was a puzzle that could be enjoyed by a child just as much as a professional mathematician.
So despite the differences in our mathematical pedigree, I suspect that G.H.Hardy and I would have been able to share a love not only of cricket, but plenty of mathematical ideas, too. The best form of shared mathematics usually goes under the heading of ‘recreational maths’, and Hardy clearly had an interest in this. The most famous story involving Hardy is his exchange with Ramanujan concerning the taxi numbered 1729, which Ramanujan recognised as the smallest number that can be expressed as the sum of two cubes in two different ways.  . That is as useless a fact as ‘Lillee caught Willey bowled Dilley’, yet one that invariably enchants everyone who hears it.
This is evidence, if any were needed, that a love of mathematics and the mathematical way of thinking are not restricted to those who pursue it to degree level.
Maths and cricket both tend to be inward looking, and not good at reaching out to those who aren’t already converted, |
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