Simon Pampena, the Australian Numeracy Ambassador, combines the ideas of mathematics with the craft of stand up comedy to communicate the true nature of maths – mind-blowing fun! Simon is a leading maths communicator with regular appearances on ABC Catalyst, Discovery International and Youtube channels BBC Headsqueeze and Numberphile. On top of this he has written, produced and performed in 10 maths comedy shows for the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Darwin Arts Festival and Adelaide Fringe. Seeing one of Simon's comedy shows is to experience maths his way - a rocket-pack strapped full of maths enthusiasm!
What books have influenced you the most?
Abstract Algebra by Thomas W. Hungerford. The most beautiful and complete text on algebra you could possibly want. I keep coming back to this work.
The Banach-Tarski Paradox by Stan Wagon. Comprehensive text on one of my favourite mathematical theorems.
Set Theory András Hajnal & Peter Hamburger. Mathematical hard core subject area. I love it!
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by T.W. Hungerford (1997) -
by Stan Wagon (1993) -
by A. Hajnal , P. Hamburger (1999)
From Here to Infinity by Ian Stewart. I studied this book when I was still an undergraduate as it gave me a understanding of where maths was at the end of the 20th century.
The Number Sense by Stanislas Dehaene. Awesome text on where numbers come from. A real eye-opener.
Thinking in Numbers: How Maths Illuminates Our Lives by Daniel Tammet. First had account of how an extraordinarily gifted mathematical savant thinks about numbers.
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by I. Stewart (1996) -
by S.D.R.A.I.N. Sante et de la Recherche Medicale (1997) -
by D. Tammet (2012)
Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas Hofstadter. Maths, intelligence, consciousness and a Pulitzer Prize. The perfect cafe conversation starter. I knew a guy a uni who used this book to pick up girls.
by D.R. Hofstadter (1979)
Meta Math!: The Quest for Omega by Gregory Chaitin. Chaitin is a legend and this book explains his most famous result: numbers that describe the limits of computability.
Proofs from THE BOOK by Martin Aigner and Günter M. Ziegler. An exquisite text covering the work of Paul Erdős. It lists the most elegant proofs of mathematical theorems Erdős claimed were from THE BOOK written by God himself.
How to Solve It by George Pólya. It's all in the name but this guy is a master. This book is the equivalent of "How to play guitar" by Eddie Van Halen.
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by G.J. Chaitin (2005) -
by M. Aigner , G.M. Ziegler (2004) -
by G. Polya (2008)
What book would you like to write?
The title of my maths book would be: 4-DIMENSIONAL PROJECTIONS OF THE NUMBER 12 - What Mathematics will look like in the year 2120.