Researcher discusses link between Maths and Music

In anticipation of World Maths Day on Saturday 15 October, Leicester mathematician Professor Ruslan Davidchack describes mathematics as “the highest form of intellectual art known to mankind”.

In a new feature, Professor Davidchack discusses the beauty of mathematics and how the discipline is like a piano, with Pure Maths being white keys and Applied Maths being black keys.

In the article he says: "Mathematicians are like composers. Most of us, mortal mathematicians, only know how to make music using a few notes. Some are better at playing white notes, some black. Only the top mathematical geniuses are able to use all the notes.  Gauss, Euler, Poincaré… Were they pure or applied mathematicians? Every theorem is like a musical piece.  Mathematicians can also play the piano. We can play music created by other composers – we can understand and appreciate their score."

World Maths Day is an international online Maths competition which challenges youngsters to solve equations and problems against other schoolchildren from across the globe.

The event, sponsored by Samsung, and supported by UNICEF, reached 1,204,766 participants in 2010, setting a Guinness Worlds Record for the largest online Maths competition. Professor Davidchack, whose research is in Mathematical Modelling and Computation, has describes how mathematicians feel about their subject in the hope that this will inspire the youngsters to rise up to the challenge of becoming professional mathematicians.