Murderous Maths

It was a pleasure to welcome author, Kjartan Poskitt to Pipers on Tuesday and see him present to girls from Years 3-9 in the Arts Centre Theatre. Kjartan has written a series of books entitled “Murderous Maths” which aim to explain Mathematical concepts in a fun and clever way.

The books in the Murderous Maths series feature a range of characters including One-Finger Jimmy, Half Smile and their gang, Professor Fiendish, Pongo McWhiffy and the terribly lovely Veronica Gumfloss, the evil Gollarks from the planet Zog and Urgum the Axeman. They include tricks, games, jokes and all sorts of advice and tips on how to cope with maths in all its various forms.

In the morning Kjartan’s presentation to the Prep girls included a trick to help learn your 1089 times table, a demonstration of how to make a triflexagon and an insight into the magic of Predictor Cards! In the afternoon it was the turn of girls in Years 7-9 who were treated to an explanation of Zeno’s Paradox of the Tortoise and Achilles. They also learnt about the Dragon Curve Fractal, Prince Rupert’s Cube and a card trick involving a little bit more than luck!

Kjartan’s enthusiasm throughout the day was infectious. He explained to the girls that for him the joy of maths is that it lends itself to thousands of tricks - including card tricks, number predictions, and even tricks to just quickly check your change in a shop. By the end of their sessions everyone was in agreement that his presentation was like no Maths lesson they had ever experienced before. It was fantastic to see the girls engaged and keen to go and try out some of the tricks for themselves.