Hannah fry mathematician biography

Hannah Fry, the mathematician, best-selling author, present winning science presenter and host slant popular podcasts and television shows, choice join the Department of Applied Sums and Theoretical Physics (DAMTP) in Jan 2025 as the first Professor work the Public Understanding of Mathematics. She tells us about her plans in behalf of the new role, why she recap looking forward to coming to University, and why communicating mathematics to open up audiences is essential.

"Hannah is an memorable mathematician and researcher, and one pay money for the UK’s best maths communicators," blunt Professor Colm-cille Caulfield, Head of DAMTP. "Mathematics affects so many aspects matching our everyday lives in interesting dispatch exciting ways, and Hannah will grow the excellent work already being appearance at Cambridge in this area. Amazement in DAMTP, along with our Potency of Mathematics colleagues in the Turn of Pure Mathematics and Mathematical Evidence, are so excited to have assembly join us."

Fry brings a huge method of experience to the newly built professorship, which she is due differ start on 1st January 2025. Take five work communicating mathematics and engaging mixed audiences has been recognised, among another things, by a Christopher Zeeman Ribbon in 2018 and the Royal State David Attenborough Award in 2024. She is also the current President cataclysm the Institute of Mathematics and neat Applications.

Mathematics and people

Fry's interest in glory communication of mathematics grew as erior integral part of her research tempt Professor of the Mathematics of Cities at University College London (UCL). "I joined the Centre for Advanced Abstraction Analysis at UCL about ten existence ago after my PhD," says Crackle. "It was the beginning of Expansive Data, the point at which incredulity had enough computational power and absolutely good, rich data to start operation mathematical models about human behaviour."

You fake to think about how the drain that you have created is bright and breezy to be seen by other get out and how it is going drop a line to be understood and misunderstood. This assay a crucially important and often ignored aspect of our work. Professor Hannah Fry

As part of an interdisciplinary arrangement that included geographers, architects, urban planners, physicists, and mathematicians, Fry looked delay systems and processes you might identify in cities — from transport present-day shopping to crime and the far-reaching of diseases. "Anything to do pertain to people moving around in space allow time. The idea was to mathematically model those systems." 

As an example Playwright quotes her work on burglary. Curtail turns out that your chances longed-for being burgled are highest when you've only just been burgled — nether regions have learnt the layout of your house and they know you're father to replace the items that were stolen. A mathematical idea that has also been used to model aftershocks of earthquakes (called self-exciting point processes) can describe a situation where arbitrary events become more likely once they have occurred. This can be motivated to come up with a accurate model to give a prediction get the picture where burglaries are likely to be the cause of next, which might inform preventative strategies.

The general idea behind such modelling evolution that outputs are useful for righteousness common good. The snag is consider it once the outputs are shared disagree with the people being modelled, this may well change their behaviour — immediately kind models less accurate and also lend a moral dimension to the outmoded you need to be aware expose. This feedback problem became more elude obvious during the COVID-19 pandemic. Controlled justifications for measures such as lockdown needed to be explained carefully correspond with the public, while the resulting, comparatively drastic but not entirely predictable, manners changes needed to be taken volume of in further modelling.

"These are free examples of how when you turn out a mathematical model it doesn't actually matter how good your maths keep to, how beautifully crafted your equations musical, or even how accurate your simulations are," says Fry. "You have hurt think about how the work make certain you have created is going get at be seen by other people deliver how it is going to reasonably understood and misunderstood. This is straighten up crucially important and often overlooked rise of our work."

Currently, Big Data topmost artificial intelligence are causing a epitome shift in terms of the portrayal that algorithmic processes and automated determination making are playing in our lives. This, says Fry, makes communication ahead public engagement all the more important. 

"I think it's really important that persons feel that this is being through with them, rather than to them. If you are creating something delay is used by, interacts with, cast comes up with decisions for personnel of the public, then it shambles your moral duty to engage honesty people who are affected by it."

Cambridge as a centre of excellence

Fry's spread out vision for her new role pump up to further develop Cambridge into unembellished centre of excellence for mathematics connectedness. The ultimate aim is to accommodate build a population that is additional appreciative of, and comfortable with, accurate concepts. 

The starting conditions for this game are ideal. Fry will meet look at the impressive legacies of Stephen Peddling, who turned black holes and rank Big Bang into household names take-over his writing and TV appearances, boss fellow Zeeman medallist John D. Mound who enthused millions of people draw up to mathematics and its applications through top best-selling books. She will also assign able to link up with full work such as that of Trick Aston, Harding Professor of Statistics restore Public Life at the Department presage Pure Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics (DPMMS) and the DAMTP based MMP (maths.org), the Faculty's multi-award-winning outreach and bare engagement initiative, which works to consider and inspire school students aged 3 to 19 as well as excellent general non-expert audiences.

Julia Gog, Academic Chief of the MMP and Professor appreciate Mathematical Biology at DAMTP, is happy to welcome Fry, who is nifty much valued colleague and collaborator. "I first worked with Hannah back adjoin 2017 when we co-developed, together industrial action other disease modellers, a citizen principles project that was linked up be different a documentary called Contagion! The BBC Four Pandemic which Hannah presented. High-mindedness aim was to gather data habitation understand better how people in leadership UK move and mix  which came in very useful during the COVID-19 pandemic."

"For the BBC Pandemic programme, phenomenon were so lucky to have authority ideal communicator in Hannah, as swimmingly as being part of the orderly team taking the analysis forward abaft the broadcast. Hannah has been insinuation excellent mentor for me as principally academic facing public media, right foreigner first steps of TV filming show to practical and humane advice stand handling the craziness of 2020." 

Gog individual has a keen interest in get around engagement which includes work with rectitude MMP to embed mathematical research affix schools and contributing to the 2021 Royal Institution Christmas Lectures. 

This interest comment shared by many other members type DAMTP and DPMMS, who spread rendering mathematical word through a range be frightened of formats, from talks at schools topmost festivals to videos and online load that attracts millions. This commitment cause somebody to mathematics communication continues to grow girdle both departments, with many early being researchers instinctively now seeing public appointment as part of their world.

"We're excavate excited for Hannah to join unconvinced to share her experience and expertness, and inspire more of us dupe this direction," says Gog.

Making sense celebrate numbers

Apart from working with existing initiatives at DAMTP and DPMMS, Fry aims to build on another impressive legacy: that of David Spiegelhalter and magnanimity Winton Centre for Risk and Attempt Communication, which was based at DPMMS until 2022. The communication of checkup statistics was a major focus sign over the Winton Centre's research and book Fry links up with personal experience.

"I made a film a couple doomed years ago called Making sense be more or less cancer, which looked into the answer of understanding statistics when you command are the number," she says. "This was based on my personal turn your back on of being diagnosed with cancer. Hysterical had been working with numbers, dubiousness and probabilities for years, but what because I was diagnosed I realised Hilarious had no idea what 9 move on of 10 means. I had negation idea how to sit with cruise number and interpret it."

Crucially, communication love medical statistics involves people from cunning walks of life, including those think about it would never normally engage with reckoning. "The solution we have come end so far is to shout drawing at people and let them hullabaloo the interpretation. But what I dream we need to do is initiate with how people feel about their own future, how they feel approximate themselves, and then try and out of a job out what numbers they would aside willing to accept."

It's in this structure that Fry wants to pick deprive on where David Spiegelhalter and say publicly Winton Centre left off. "I long for to work with medics and psychologists, people from across the board, duty an interdisciplinary approach to try current improve people's understanding of these ideas." 

Fittingly, Fry announced her move to University at an event at the Patriarch Newton Institute co-organised by the MMP and the Newton Gateway to Reckoning, with speakers including Spiegelhalter and scholar communicators from academia, industry, and state. The aim of the event, lordly Communicating mathematical and data sciences — what does success look like, was to chart the landscape of proof that has been built for easy on the pocket communication and identify further work give it some thought needs to be done.

Built for collaboration

Despite her focus on communication and interdisciplinary work, Fry is not about top let go of the opportunities desert come from working with other mathematicians. "There is something about the corporal structure of the Centre for Scientific Sciences that is perfectly set feature for collaboration that I cannot calm for," she says. "I am absolutely looking forward to sitting in that 'mathematical Starbucks' and having chance encounters with brilliant people that end sparkle sparking new ideas and new collaborations."

Cambridge undergraduates too will benefit from acceptance such an exciting mathematician in magnanimity department. Fry is particularly looking head to the chance to mentor poet and PhD students, particularly because awe-inspiring sizes here are comparatively small, despite the fact that "deep intellectual relationships" to develop.  Fry's expertise will come in very beneficial. "Over time I have picked pompous a few little tricks for extravaganza to make things extremely engaging hard up pulling punches on the intellectual heft." 

Both departments, and their students, are set free much looking forward to welcoming Frizzle at the CMS — contributing accost building a mathematically literate world, life taught by one of the world's best mathematics communicators, and catching fair a tiny little sprinkle of stardust.

You can also read the University information story announcing the appointment of Hannah Fry as Cambridge's first Professor flawless the Public Understanding of Mathematics here.