What an incredible man, devoting his life to maths research and using his knowledge to identify and prove patterns, trends and connections in different fields.

This video on TED talks caught my attention when I saw ‘Mathematician who cracked wall street.’ I am fascinated by the work the NSA does in cracking codes to diffuse security threats. To be honest, I had never thought about the mathematics behind something like this. The identification of patterns, trends and anomalies are all involved in the process of cracking security codes. For Simons to  go on and be able to apply these strategies to the financial industry really supports the notion of Mathematics being linked to multiple disciplines. Maybe I will enjoy developing a profound understanding of mathematics after all!

I was interested when the interview went on to talk about Simon’s involvement in supporting and encouraging maths research and development within education. The ‘Simons Foundation’ discussed in the TED video was cofounded in New York by Jim and Marilyn Simons in 1994.

 “The Simons Foundation at its core exists to support basic — or discovery-driven — scientific research, undertaken in pursuit of understanding the phenomena of our world without specific application in mind.”

The foundation has a great focus on collaborating with scientists in the progression of fundamental scientific questions within major topics such as mathematics, computer science and physics. The Education Outreach sector of the foundation drives to encourage a deeper understanding of science and mathematics amongst pupils, teachers and members of the public.

In the video above, Simons states that the charity has a vision to invest in maths teachers around America.

“Instead of beating up the bad teachers, which has caused morale problems within the educational community, we focus on the good ones, giving them status and extra funding for their own professional research.”

This approach and support has had a positive effect on teacher’s morale, confidence and their desire to remain in the teaching profession. Take a look at the following link to the Simons Foundation website to see the positive work being done in Education, Life Sciences, Autism Research and Data Analysis. They also have great links with and support the development of MoMath (National Mathematics Museum, NY) in demonstrating the capacity Mathematics has to impact the world in unique and unexpected ways.

Simons Foundation – Education and Outreach

Websites:

https://www.simonsfoundation.org/about-us/

https://www.ted.com