Have you ever wondered what the world would be like without mathematics? And who are the people who make new mathematics and how they do it?

Who is your favourite mathematician of all time?

This competition, organised by the British Society for the History of Mathematics, is your chance to explore how mathematics has developed and achieved its status and who were the most important mathematicians in history who contributed to it. This year we would like you to concentrate on choosing one mathematician who has, in your opinion, been the most important person, your favourite, and to make the case for your choice — to explain his/her mathematics and to show their importance or what you think was special about it and them.

The British Society for the History of Mathematics (BSHM) believes that understanding where mathematics comes from and who has contributed to the development of mathematical ideas is an important part of understanding mathematics today. BSHM, working with Plus, invites secondary school students to explore this question and communicate their findings for a wide audience (age 16 upwards).

You could write an article (maximum 1500 words), make a short video (maximum ten minutes) or a multi-media project (maximum ten minutes).

The competition is open to all young people aged 11 to 15 and 16 to 19 who are in secondary education. A number of monetary prizes will be awarded, depending upon the quality and the number of entries. The maximum prize will be £100.

The deadline for entries is Friday, 1st September 2019. All the info about how to submit your entry and where to ask questions is on the BSHM website.

Winners will be notified to collect their prizes in London, at the Society's Gresham College meeting on the 23rd October 2019, and the recording of this will be posted on the BSHM website, with a link given also from Plus.

Good luck!