mathematics and magic

In this podcast mathematician Cheryl Praeger and magician Will Houstoun reveal the maths and magic behind shuffling cards.

We reveal some of the maths and magic hidden within a simple pack of cards!

Want to shuffle like a professional magician? Find out how to shuffle perfectly, imperfectly, and the magic behind it.

Here is a neat way of using maths to pretend to memorise a pack of cards. Amaze your friends! Astound your family!

When you shuffle a deck of cards chances are the order of cards you produced has never been produced before! Find out why and learn a card trick too!

It's 21st of October and for puzzle lovers this can only mean one thing: the G4G Celebration of mind. This annual party celebrates the legacy of Martin Gardner, magician, writer and father of recreational maths, with mathemagical events in his honour happening all over the world.

Why do so many people say they hate mathematics, asks David Acheson? The truth, he says, is that most of them have never been anywhere near it, and that mathematicians could do more to change this perception - perhaps by emphasising the element of surprise that so often accompanies mathematics at its best.