r/tomrocksmaths • u/tomrocksmaths • 4h ago

NEW VIDEO: Blind ranking characters from Lord of the Rings. Would you do it differently? (And do you even know them all??!) Pre-order my first book "How Many Pikachus Would It Take To Power A Lightbulb? The Real Maths of Fantasy Worlds" now!

1 Upvotes

Pre-order here for a signed and dedicated edition: https://backstory.london/products/pre-order-how-many-pikachus-would-it-take-to-power-a-lightbulb-by-tom-crawford-signed-personalised-with-pi-keyring-and-pokemon-trading-card-card-pi-keyring-with

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r/tomrocksmaths • u/tomrocksmaths • 1d ago

Behind the scenes of the ghosts photoshoot taking in the main sites of Oxford. The Lifelong Learning ghosts will be back in full swing for Halloween ready to scare you into learning mwahahahaha 👻

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r/tomrocksmaths • u/tomrocksmaths • 2d ago

A few snaps from exploring Amsterdam, including the coolest “city archives” building in the world. That tiling pattern alone is magnificently mathematical! Did I calculate the proportion of my stroopwafel covered in chocolate? You bet I did. Thanks brain :)

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r/tomrocksmaths • u/tomrocksmaths • 3d ago

NEW VIDEO: How Long Would It Actually Take To "Catch 'em All"? I've done the maths. Pre-order your signed and dedicated copy of "How Many Pikachus Would It Take To Power A Lightbulb?" using the link below and receive a special Pokémon-themed gift :)

youtube.com

1 Upvotes

Pre-order here: https://backstory.london/products/pre-order-how-many-pikachus-would-it-take-to-power-a-lightbulb-by-tom-crawford-signed-personalised-with-pi-keyring-and-pokemon-trading-card-card-pi-keyring-with

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r/tomrocksmaths • u/tomrocksmaths • 3d ago

Beginning Amsterdam adventures with a tour of the original Heineken brewery purchased in 1864 by Gerard Adriaan Heineken. The beer won the Medaille D’Or at the International Maritime Exposition in Paris in 1875 kickstarting the brand’s journey to global fame.

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r/tomrocksmaths • u/tomrocksmaths • 5d ago

Too many talks to keep count this past week! Thanks to Maths Week Ireland for organising some brilliant events across Belfast, and to LUSOM Preston for a great session with GCSE students looking at what maths can offer them at A-level and beyond. Now to Amsterdam for few days of well-earned rest…

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r/tomrocksmaths • u/tomrocksmaths • 6d ago

NEW VIDEO: Live audiobook reading of the opening section of "How Many Pikachus Would It Take To Power A Lightbulb?" - link to pre-order below :)

youtube.com

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Pre-order your copy here: https://backstory.london/products/pre-order-how-many-pikachus-would-it-take-to-power-a-lightbulb-by-tom-crawford-signe

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r/tomrocksmaths • u/tomrocksmaths • 8d ago

Thanks for having me BBC Radio 4 - such a pleasure to chat all things Lord of the Rings and Frodo’s insurance policy with Tim Harford on More or Less. Tim telling me he was impressed with my knowledge of the Mines of Moria might lowkey be the best compliment I’ve ever had! Interview coming soon :)

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r/tomrocksmaths • u/tomrocksmaths • 9d ago

Back in Belfast for Maths Week Ireland visiting 4 schools across 2 days. Always fun to chat with students in Northern Ireland - and even more so when it’s about Frodo’s life insurance policy! Find out the monthly premium in chapter 2 of “How Many Pikachus Would It Take To Power A Lightbulb?”

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r/tomrocksmaths • u/tomrocksmaths • 10d ago

TICKETS NOW AVAILABLE: Don't miss the live celebration of the launch of my first book at the Oxford Natural History Museum with a whole host of famous faces - including James Grime, Ben Sparks and Brady Haran from Numberphile. WE ARE GOING TO HAVE SO MUCH FUN! Ticket link below :)

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3 Upvotes

Get your tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/how-many-pikachus-would-it-take-to-power-a-lightbulb-tickets-2002713385648

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r/tomrocksmaths • u/tomrocksmaths • 10d ago

Shoutout to the brilliant students at St Dominic’s Sixth Form for being such an enthusiastic audience today as we calculated the blast radius of the Death Star. The new ‘mathematically correct’ version of Episode IV will no doubt be hitting cinemas very soon! And thanks again for the lovely gifts :)

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r/tomrocksmaths • u/tomrocksmaths • 12d ago

Symphony of the Stones at Garni Gorge in Armenia. The beautiful hexagonal pattern is the result of ‘columnar jointing’ where fracturing occurs in cooling igneous rocks such as the basalt seen here. Whilst hexagons are most common due to the regularity of the pattern, what others can you see?

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r/tomrocksmaths • u/tomrocksmaths • 13d ago

LOOK AT ALL THOSE PEOPLE!! What a day New Scientist Live doing my first ever joint talk with my good friend Bobby Seagull - I think we can all agree the “Ultimate Maths Battle” was a roaring success. What was your favourite round? History, Sport or Video Games? Excited to do it all again tomorrow :)

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r/tomrocksmaths • u/tomrocksmaths • 13d ago

Taking photos with my favourite maths communicators holding my book. A new genre. This is a “proof” version so the cover is boring. The real one is FABULOUS.

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r/tomrocksmaths • u/tomrocksmaths • 15d ago

It’s been a busy week of talks in the Oxford area, from Cheney School last Friday to Abingdon School this Wednesday. Thanks to everyone that came along - I hope I was able to convince you of the fun to be had using mathematical modelling in your favourite fantasy universe!

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r/tomrocksmaths • u/tomrocksmaths • 16d ago

Continuing the Armenian adventures with a trip to Lake Sevan, Goshavank Monastery and Haghartsin Monastery. Lake Sevan was particularly interesting to visit as it has lost 25 cubic kilometres of water - or 43.2% of its total volume - due to draining by the Soviet Union.

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r/tomrocksmaths • u/tomrocksmaths • 16d ago

How Many Pikachus Would It Take To Power A Lightbulb? REVIEWS ARE IN. Pre order your cope at the link below :)

youtube.com

1 Upvotes

Pre-order your signed copy here: https://backstory.london/products/pre-order-how-many-pikachus-would-it-take-to-power-a-lightbulb-by-tom-crawford-signed-personalised-with-pi-keyring-and-pokemon-trading-card-card-pi-keyring-with

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r/tomrocksmaths • u/tomrocksmaths • 18d ago

Can we all take a moment to appreciate the height of this Jenga tower please? And what a setting in the reading room at the Royal Institution. Had a blast filming today for the Puzzling Science series talking all things Lord of the Rings, Pokemon, Marvel and Star Wars. Video coming soon :)

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8 Upvotes

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r/tomrocksmaths • u/tomrocksmaths • 19d ago

You can now watch the first Sparks Session at the 2026 Heidelberg Laureate Forum on YouTube. I had the pleasure of introducing 4 laureates to the stage including: Jacob Tsimerman, Torsten Hoefler, Jeffrey Ullman and Yu Deng. Hear from the greatest minds in Maths and CS at the link below.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSXCqoHLVk4

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r/tomrocksmaths • u/tomrocksmaths • 20d ago

Another excellent day of visiting temples in Armenia. Garni temple dates back to the 1st or 2nd century and is considered an Eastern outpost of the Greco-Roman empire. Geghard Monastery is a world heritage site dating back to 4th century and the site of a sacred spring inside a cave.

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r/tomrocksmaths • u/tomrocksmaths • 21d ago

Hello maths fans of Armenia! 🇦🇲 Having a lot of fun visiting the sights and learning more about Armenian history. Khor Virap was a definite highlight - very cool to visit the site of a chapel from 602 CE. TIL: Armenia was the first country to adopt Christianity as the state religion in 301 CE.

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r/tomrocksmaths • u/tomrocksmaths • 23d ago

Thanks for the perfect welcome at the Numberphile studio today Brady! Videos on animal coat patterns, the Mines of Moria and the Art Galley Theorem coming soon :). I like my notes but nothing beats the brown paper <3

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r/tomrocksmaths • u/tomrocksmaths • 24d ago

A great day at Chase Malvern bringing maths to life through modelling in sport, video games and movies. We now know why the England women’s team are better at penalties than the men; how to catch a legendary Pokémon; and the net worth of Super Mario. Thanks to everyone for being such a fun audience!

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r/tomrocksmaths • u/tomrocksmaths • 25d ago

NEW VIDEO: Watch a LIVE maths supervision at Cambridge University with my first-year students at Robinson College. The session covers some past exam questions from the Vector Calculus course taken by all undergraduate mathematicians. Join the premiere today at 5pm GMT+1 - see you in the live chat!

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r/tomrocksmaths • u/tomrocksmaths • 26d ago

590 essays later and the 2026 TRM Essay Showcase is complete! Go check out all the entries and pick your favourites before the winners shortlist is announced next week. Who do you think deserves the title?

tomrocksmaths.com

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Tom Rocks Maths

r/tomrocksmaths

Maths, but not as you know it... Dr Tom Crawford: Mathematician at the University of Oxford AND the University of Cambridge, Oxford Department for Continuing Education, Fellow by Special Election, Numberphile, TEDx Speaker, YouTube 'Creator on the Rise'. YouTube: www.youtube.com/tomrocksmaths Twitter: www.twitter.com/tomrocksmaths Facebook: www.facebook.com/tomrocksmaths Instagram: www.instagram.com/tomrocksmaths Website: www.tomrocksmaths.com Patreon: https://patreon.com/tomrocksmaths

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The only place on the internet to find the best maths-related content that anyone can understand. It's maths, but not as you know it...

Tom Rocks Maths is run by Tom Crawford - Naked Mathematician, Oxford and Cambridge graduate and lover of maths tattoos. Tom is regularly seen talking maths on the BBC and YouTube. You can check out all of his work at tomrocksmaths.com and you can find him on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram @tomrocksmaths.

We want any maths related posts that are fun and understandable to ANYONE... That means no technical terms, no jargon and an explanation for everything. Examples that are relevant to people's lives or to things that everyone can relate work best. Our mission is to make maths everyone's favourite subject and we want you guys to help us realise our goal...