Meet Gerry

Hi. My name’s Gerry and I’m a Physicist and Mathematician. If you’ve just read that and reacted with a groan, a rolling of the eyes or a tinge of panic, don’t worry! It’s not always obvious how high school mathematics relates to the wider world and learning the fundamentals of physics can be a thankless task, but with this blog I hope to show you the power of number in a whole new light, and how Science can become a part of everyday life in a transformative way, for scientist and non-scientist alike.

What happens when you push an electron too far? Do bees know Maths? What role does Science play in the Arts, and vice versa? Can we rewire the brain to learn better? What do our Amazon purchases have to do with the Terminator? How was Maths involved in the global financial crisis, and how destructive can an equation be in the wrong hands? These are just some of the questions I hope to answer. Humans are multifaceted, but everything we do is built on a foundation of law and number.

So strap in, because we’re about to get plugged into The Matrix! Well, okay, not quite, but with any luck, this series will help you begin to see the fundamental laws that govern our lives wherever you go, and even begin to play with them yourself. By the end you’ll have a much better idea of what Physicists and Mathematicians do and why it’s so important, not just in the creation of technologies we take for granted every day, but also in the way we regulate our lives and consider our place in the Universe.

From the push and pull of cosmic structures composed of thousands of galaxies, to the turbulent forces in violent storms, to the tiny, imperceptible strings that may make up the fabric of everything we know, join me on my quest to understand how number rules and brings the Universe together, why we are the Universe observing itself, and how in discovering our past, we can better understand our present and try to shape the best possible future.

Image – ‘Relativity’, by MC Escher.