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Tommaths (he/him)

@teakayb.mathsy.space
4.2K followers 837 following 3.8K posts

UK-based Museum Learning Consultant & Maths Communicator 📖 Author of The Mathematicians' Library: uk.bookshop.org/a/16778/97818360048… 🌐 TeaKayB.mathsy.space 🕸️ @TeaKayB.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy #MathsInMuseums #MuseumEd #MathsJam

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Tommaths (he/him) @teakayb.mathsy.space · 11h
Would you be able to put a FREE Japanese language edition of The Mathematicians' Library to good use? I'll send it out to the first person who gives me a good reason why they should have it, and I'll even cover postage (anywhere the UK). 1/n
A Japanese edition of The Mathematicians’ Library lies on a deep magenta patterned carpet. The blue book cover features large white Japanese lettering, the English title The Mathematicians’ Library, and colourful overlapping translucent mathematical shapes forming a vivid abstract design. The author’s name, Thomas K. Briggs, and the publisher’s name appear in Japanese.
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Tommaths (he/him) @teakayb.mathsy.space · 27/09/2026
My Polish language copy of *The Mathematicians' Library* will soon be winging its way to a school in Leicestershire because a maths teacher thought it'd be great for some of their students with Polish whose first language is Polish! This is exactly the kind of use I'd hoped these non-English...
A close-up photograph of a book titled Biblioteka Matematykow, resting partly inside a brown paper envelope. Its cover combines an intricate historical astronomical chart, with constellation lines and Latin labels, with classical figures and a circular mathematical design. A small “EX LIBRIS” bookplate peeks out from behind the book.
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Tommaths (he/him) @teakayb.mathsy.space · 26/09/2026
I've got one copy of *The Mathematicians' Library* to give away in each of four languages: Polish, German, Japanese, and Spanish. I'm offering them for free (including UK postage) & I'd like them to go somewhere that'd make good use of them. If you think *your* organisation or group would...
Four editions of The Mathematicians’ Library are arranged on a patterned surface: the Polish edition, German edition, Japanese edition and Spanish edition. The Polish and Spanish covers feature a Renaissance-style astronomical diagram with a Vitruvian figure, while the German edition has a vivid purple-and-pink fractal design and the Japanese edition shows colourful abstract mathematical forms.
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Maths Week England @mathsweekengland24.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Announcing the Maths Week England Library Project! Do you—or someone you know—work with a library in England? This autumn, MathsWorldUK is offering a prize package of favourite popular maths books. Libraries that take part in Maths Week England can enter here: support@mathsweekengland.co.uk.
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Tommaths (he/him) @teakayb.mathsy.space · 25/09/2026
Today's main procrastinatory device was adding a page for Euclid's Elements to The Stack: library.mathsy.space/books/euclid... #MathsToday #History #Maths #Books
library.mathsy.space
The Elements - Companion
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Tommaths (he/him) @teakayb.mathsy.space · 25/09/2026
This week in #TenuousAppearances, I notice that the back of my head is visible in a photo on page 5 of the June 2026 issue of @cilip.bsky.social RPG's Post-Lib journal: cdn.ymaws.com/oldsite-ym.c...
cdn.ymaws.com
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Tommaths (he/him) @teakayb.mathsy.space · 25/09/2026
"If you see a faded sign at the side of the road that says 'fif-teen miles to the...'"
A small clear plastic container holds a tempting mix of whole and broken nuts, including cashews, almonds, Brazil nuts and walnuts, interspersed with pieces of dark chocolate. It sits on a softly textured grey-and-white fabric surface.
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GEM (Group for Education in Museums) @gem.org.uk · 24/09/2026
New #job Museum Learning Manager at The Arbib Education Trust #SouthEast Apply by 2 November 2026 Full details here: gem.org.uk/jobs/museum-... #GEMJobs #MuseumLearningJobs #MuseumJobs #Education #SouthEastJobs
gem.org.uk
Museum Learning Manager - GEM
Do you believe museums and schools should work more closely together? Do you combine creativity with organisational skills and the ability to work across the curriculum? We are looking for […]
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Tommaths (he/him) @teakayb.mathsy.space · 23/09/2026
Another #ViewFromAHotelWindow
A brick-paved path runs beside a red-brick building, with a grassy bank rising to a mix of modern buildings and mature trees. In the foreground are a small parking area and wooden storage enclosures, beneath a partly cloudy blue sky.
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Tommaths (he/him) @teakayb.mathsy.space · 22/09/2026
I thoroughly enjoyed my stint as @prensemble.bsky.social 's sound tech at @mathsworld.com last night. They sounded GREAT despite my best efforts! #Maths #Music #MathsToday
A person stands in a colourful indoor event space, wearing glasses and a black T-shirt featuring a large headphone graphic around a three-dimensional geometric cube and the words “KEY CHANGE BACK AGAIN!” They hold one arm out towards the camera with an open hand. Behind them are a projection screen, microphone, music stands, chairs, cables and colourful fabric panels.
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Tommaths (he/him) @teakayb.mathsy.space · 21/09/2026
I LIKE THE POPE THE POPE'S GOT NOTES ON POLYTOPES This is going to be stuck in my head for the next few days AGAIN because I've seen @prensemble.bsky.social play AGAIN and they were brilliant AGAIN. #MathsToday
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Tommaths (he/him) @teakayb.mathsy.space · 21/09/2026
"We're sorry you experienced our Terrible Service. Here's a refund in the form of a voucher that can only be spent on more of our Terrible Service." No.
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Richard Elwes @richardelwes.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
"Puzzles, Stories, and Very Large Numbers: Complementary approaches to mathematical engagement". My article in the latest issue of "Mathematics Competitions" applies Freeman Dyson's classification of mathematicians into "Birds" and "Frogs" to mathematical engagement... www.wfnmc.org/Journal/Jour...
wfnmc.org
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Tommaths (he/him) @teakayb.mathsy.space · 21/09/2026
Today in "where's Tommy‽" - I'm in London for tonight's @prensemble.bsky.social gig at @mathsworld.com - I've taken the opportunity to pick up one of a few boxes of books (*The Mathematicians' Library*, of course) I left at the Royal Institution. If anyone wants a signed copy and is in Central...
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Tommaths (he/him) @teakayb.mathsy.space · 19/09/2026
Does anyone know where my Crybaby pedal is? I haven't seen it in years, but I'm pretty sure things just can't pop out of existence.
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Colin Beveridge @icecolbeveridge.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy · 19/09/2026
Oo, it's Talk Like A Pirate Day, or as we call it in Dorset, "Talk Day".
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Hannah R @missradders.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
A thread on cinema. Answer with one letter and one number. eg C3 Part 1: When is it time to shut the hell up in the cinema: A) when the adverts start B) when the trailers start C) when the film starts 1/ 2
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Tommaths (he/him) @teakayb.mathsy.space · 14/09/2026
Hey, you! Give this a 'like' if you're coming, and whether you're coming or not a repost would be a great way to show your support!
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Tommaths (he/him) @teakayb.mathsy.space · 12/09/2026
For the last three days I've been at the @gem.org.uk conference at #BletchleyPark. As always, it was brilliant, interesting, inspiring, and massively tiring. Following a big sleep, my mind was still whirring and I've written up some thoughts: tommaths.blogspot.com
tommaths.blogspot.com
◼️ Tom⇒maths
Maths educator with many and varied interests. Guitarist, writer, reader, human being. Interested in freelance opportunities, or just a chat.
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Colin Beveridge @icecolbeveridge.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy · 11/09/2026
Dorset people! I'm doing my first solo gig in 20+ years at the Dry Dock, Weymouth tomorrow from 6:30pm. Come along!
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Tommaths (he/him) @teakayb.mathsy.space · 11/09/2026
To my #maths #teacher friends who are also on #LinkedIn, can I ask a favour? My cousin's started a PGCE & I've been telling him the best CPD I've had has not been through the schools I've worked at, but through fantastic people I've met at dedicated maths teacher events. Introduce yourselves?
linkedin.com
#maths #teachers | Thomas K. Briggs, AMIMA
To the many fabulous #maths #teachers I know here: My cousin* Gareth Johnson has just started a PGCE and I've been telling him that the best professional development I've had as a maths teacher has b...
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Tommaths (he/him) @teakayb.mathsy.space · 09/09/2026
I thought Byrne's 1847 treatment of Euclid's Elements was pretty cool, but today I learned that @chethamslibrary.bsky.social in Manchester have an early English translation from 1579 that has fold-out flaps, making it one of the earliest pop-up books in English? Why aren't they... #MathsToday 🏛️🎓
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Tommaths (he/him) @teakayb.mathsy.space · 09/09/2026
I've just been reminded of something I said in a talk a few years ago: If (as a museum, gallery, heritage site, etc) you have a STEM offer that doesn't involve M, then you don't have a STEM offer.
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mathsteacherkyp.bsky.social @mathsteacherkyp.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
In a little museum in Aguïmes, Gran Canaria and spotted some images of measurement from some centuries ago.
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Tommaths (he/him) @teakayb.mathsy.space · 09/09/2026
I met @gregjenner.bsky.social ! #GEM26 🏛️🎓
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Tommaths (he/him) @teakayb.mathsy.space · 09/09/2026
Thanks to @gregjenner.bsky.social for a fab discussion at #GEM26 He said some interesting things about history & comedy (and historians and comedians) that closely match my experiences of maths (and mathematicians). History & maths go together SO well. How do we utilise that more often? 🏛️🎓
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Oliver Mantell @olivermantell.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
. @teakayb.mathsy.space I saw this poem and thought of you (re maths popping up in interesting places). From Robert Frost’s Meeting and Passing:
“…We met. But all
We did that day was mingle great and small
Footprints in summer dust as if we drew
The figure of our being less than two
But more than one as yet. Your parasol
Pointed the decimal off with one deep thrust.”
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Tommaths (he/him) @teakayb.mathsy.space · 09/09/2026
In case there's anyone at #GEM26 who's also on Bluesky and looking for somewhere to discuss what's going on at this year's conference... 1. Pin this feed & check it regularly: bsky.app/profile/did:... 2. Post to it by including "🏛️🎓" in a post (it'll pick up some other keywords too) @gem.org.uk
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Tommaths (he/him) @teakayb.mathsy.space · 09/09/2026
Day 1 of @gem.org.uk conference 2026 has kicked off. This year's theme is "Learning is Digital?" with a very deliberate question mark. #GEM26 🏛️🎓
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Colin Beveridge @icecolbeveridge.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy · 08/09/2026
12yo: "I was thinking about graphs at school, during English."
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Tommaths (he/him) @teakayb.mathsy.space · 07/09/2026
It's @gem.org.uk conference week! This year it's at my old haunt, #BletchleyPark! 🏛️🎓
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Tommaths (he/him) @teakayb.mathsy.space · 06/09/2026
I got today's Variant 1 maths anagram in 12 seconds! How fast are you? Test your skills at puzzles.mathsy.space
puzzles.mathsy.space
Daily Maths Puzzles | puzzles.mathsy.space
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Tommaths (he/him) @teakayb.mathsy.space · 05/09/2026
Unsurprisingly, there's a lot of opinion flying around at the moment about map projections (including comparative pros and cons). If you're interested in reading about the history of maps and maps projections I can wholly recommend Paulina Rowinska's Mapmatics:
static.klipy.com
World Map: Real Size Comparison
Alt: On a world map, the sizes of countries oscillate between their relative sizes on a Mercator map and their relative sizes in the real world, demonstrating one of the weaknesses of this map projection (it has strengths, too).
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Tommaths (he/him) @teakayb.mathsy.space · 05/09/2026
I got today's Variant 1 maths anagram in 10 seconds! How fast are you? Test your skills at puzzles.mathsy.space #MathsToday
puzzles.mathsy.space
Daily Maths Puzzles | puzzles.mathsy.space
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Damon Young @damonyoung.com.au · 04/09/2026
This Finnish guy has been teaching himself Sumerian, and sent a cuneiform tablet to the British Museum to check his progress. They just emailed him that they've sent him something in the post. I'm now thrilled and excited for a total stranger! Clay tablet mail! www.reddit.com/r/Cuneiform/...
a photo of a hand holding a cuneiform tablet
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Tommaths (he/him) @teakayb.mathsy.space · 05/09/2026
Clifford the Big Red Dog (the movie): there are many things wrong with this movie so far, but... Jack Whitehall (who is English) is putting on an American accent for the movie, in which he is an uncle looking after his (American accent) niece, for her mum, his sister, who has an... English accent.
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Tommaths (he/him) @teakayb.mathsy.space · 01/09/2026
I got today's Variant 1 maths anagram in 18 seconds! How fast are you? Test your skills at puzzles.mathsy.space
puzzles.mathsy.space
Daily Maths Puzzles | puzzles.mathsy.space
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Tommaths (he/him) @teakayb.mathsy.space · 01/09/2026
Next up in an ongoing if irregular series of *Tom making an incomplete fool of himself in freely accessible media*, I chat to @steckl.es in an episode of the @tmip.bsky.social podcast! #Talking #Maths #InPublic #podcast 🏛️🎓 #MathsInMuseums #Museums #Education #MathsToday
talkingmathsinpublic.uk
Talking Maths In Public - Podcast
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Tommaths (he/him) @teakayb.mathsy.space · 01/09/2026
Just the one book *finished* in August, according to my @the.storygraph wrap-up, but bits of five books read altogether. Some might say I should focus more? #books #reading
A pastel-coloured StoryGraph graphic titled “@teakayb’s August 2026 Wrap-Up”. It reports reading one book, totalling 713 pages, with an average rating of 3.0 stars. The featured book is Kate Morton’s The Secret Keeper, shown with its blue cover and a 3.0-star rating. The graphic also states an average book length of 597 pages and an average time to finish of 34 days. Below, a green line graph charts pages read on each day of August, with the highest daily totals occurring around 10 August and 20–21 August.A pastel-coloured calendar headed “@teakayb’s August 2026 Reading Calendar”. Each day of August records the number of pages read, represented by a small book icon and page count, while coloured horizontal bars show reading periods. The highest daily total is 65 pages on 10 August, marked with a trophy. A small image of Kate Morton’s The Secret Keeper appears around 21 August, indicating the book being read. At the bottom, a legend explains the book icon as “Pages Read” and the trophy as “Most Pages Read”, alongside thumbnails of several books, including The Secret Keeper.
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Tommaths (he/him) @teakayb.mathsy.space · 01/09/2026
I just stumbled upon the fact that an anagram of "Descartes" is "set scared".
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Tommaths (he/him) @teakayb.mathsy.space · 31/08/2026
As a #StarWars nerd I think I'm supposed to post things like this excitedly as it happens, but I got distracted and here we are 11 days later. (*This* order 66 was for a pot of tea and a cherry scone, which was lovely).
A close-up photograph of a small piece of paper resting on a wooden table. The card reads “YOUR ORDER NUMBER” in large brown letters, with the number “66” printed in red beneath it. A bright blue band runs along the lower edge of the card, contrasting with the warm, richly textured wood.
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Tommaths (he/him) @teakayb.mathsy.space · 30/08/2026
Who's booked tickets for the Pseudorandom Ensemble gig? 21st September 2026, 18:15, £8, MathsWorld UK (London's Southbank) (I'll be there!) #LiveMusic #maths
Promotional poster for The Pseudorandom Ensemble at MathsWorld London, featuring Colin Beveridge, Sam Holloway, Sam Hartburn and Gavan Fantom. Against a pale background patterned with musical notes, the poster shows four musicians in mathematical T-shirts and a singer performing in front of a periodic-table-style display. Text describes “a musical journey through the highs, lows and medians of being a mathematician”, with detours into pentagonal tilings, squircles and square packing — and promises “maths, music” and plenty of exposition between songs.
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Tommaths (he/him) @teakayb.mathsy.space · 27/08/2026
I've been experimenting with some web stuff recently, and what with the impending start of a new school year I was inspired to try something that might have some use as a 'daily settler' sort of thing: puzzles.mathsy.space
puzzles.mathsy.space
Daily Maths Puzzles | puzzles.mathsy.space
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Tommaths (he/him) @teakayb.mathsy.space · 27/08/2026
I've been experimenting with some web stuff recently, and what with the impending start of a new school year I was inspired to try something that might have some use as a 'daily settler' sort of thing: puzzles.mathsy.space
puzzles.mathsy.space
Daily Maths Puzzles | puzzles.mathsy.space
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Tommaths (he/him) @teakayb.mathsy.space · 24/08/2026
I've worked hard to get past feeling that "I can't do #art" because the #maths version of it is so incredibly damaging & I don't want to be a hypocrite when I ask people to stop. Besides: 1) You don't have to be 'good' at something to engage with it positively. 2) It's not an either/or situation.
A squat, dome-shaped stone painted black and speckled with purple, crossed by vivid green bands forming what is supposed to be something along the lines of a Sierpinski triangle, rests on a pale wooden table.
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Tommaths (he/him) @teakayb.mathsy.space · 24/08/2026
🏛️🎓 #maths #history
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Tommaths (he/him) @teakayb.mathsy.space · 23/08/2026
3 years ago: a bunch of #maths teachers visited an interactive exhibition at the Tate Modern. We investigated mathematical ideas that existed within the installation. Later, we explored some of the maths in the galleries & then over the river at St Paul's! Would love to do something this again! 🏛️🎓
A colourful cluster of open cube sculptures fills a gallery floor, their red, yellow, blue and green frames criss-crossed with diagonal struts that create shifting geometric patterns. Visitors in the background provide a sense of the installation’s scale.
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Tommaths (he/him) @teakayb.mathsy.space · 22/08/2026
I've been adding some info and links to interactives to the Principia page in The Mathematicians' Library: The Stacks. I'm still trying to get my head around what sort of thing will be on each book's page. After a lot of thinking and not-doing, I just _did_. library.mathsy.space/books/newton...
library.mathsy.space
Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica - Companion
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Tommaths (he/him) @teakayb.mathsy.space · 22/08/2026
I'm visiting Mum and took the chance to drop in on my old friend Meg, too: tommaths.blogspot.com/2025/08/math... #Maths #History
tommaths.blogspot.com
Maths in Museums: Roaring Meg at Goodrich Castle
Explore the maths behind Civil War mortar 'Roaring Meg' at Goodrich Castle: angles, trajectories, and how a museum object reveals mathematical ideas
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Tommaths (he/him) @teakayb.mathsy.space · 22/08/2026
I teased that I'd received a fantastic mathematical gift, and this is it! The soroban (Japanese abacus) has been a common calculation aid in Japan for centuries, and is still a popular education aid and cognitive training tool. This one was...
A diagonal wooden abacus with rows of warm brown counters lies across a wooden tabletop. Large white text asks, “Can a code I wrote, concealed at length, break its bound? Meaning imagined, unknown; distanced too. It may distract from making up counts.”
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