AMSP Maths on Trial with Coralie Colmez and Leila Schneps

In the wrong hands, maths can be deadly. Even the simplest numbers can become powerful forces when manipulated by politicians or the media, but in the case of the law your liberty (and even your life) can depend on using the right mathematics.

Our Winter Festival finale is brought to you by Leila Schneps and Coralie Colmez, the truly inspiring mother and daughter co-authors of ‘Math on Trial: How Numbers Get Used and Abused in the Courtroom’. Leila is an American mathematician and fiction writer and works at French National Centre for Scientific Research on number theory. Coralie read mathematics at Cambridge University, won the Ryan Prize in Higher Mathematics and is also Director and Co-Founder of the student destination platform, Unifrog.

During this enlightening talk, Coralie will explore cases from the book with an emphasis on how to use them in the classroom. Leila will then delve into some new cases and demonstrate how to think about the world around us with an awareness of error. There will also be an opportunity to find out more about Unifrog and the extensive resources available for maths teachers and students.

Please note that this talk is 1.5 hours in order to provide plenty of time for questions at the end. If you are only able to attend from 4.30pm-5.30pm then you will still get to hear the full Maths on Trial talk.

Key Facts