Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Hannah Fry Wins the Leelavati Prize in 2026 for Mathematics Outreach

maths.cam.ac.uk

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 116 posts

Re: Hannah Fry Wins the Leelavati Prize in 2026 for Mathematics Outreach

#61

Post by tclancy »

hunnovi wrote: post #53
vgivanovic wrote: post #5

What I love most is that Hannah Fry didn't get into the Cambridge undergraduate(?) math program (maths programme for you Brits) but became a math professor at Cambridge. Go Hannah!

She is great at popularity regarding mathematics, but her achievements do not seem to be primarily within hardcore mathematical research, more within popularity and communication. > She is the first Professor of the Public Understanding of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge, I am not sure that she is a "math professor", but that she is a "professor of the public understanding of mathematics". The latter seems…

Signed up just to post that? You’ll fit in well here.

Re: Hannah Fry Wins the Leelavati Prize in 2026 for Mathematics Outreach

#62

Post by dofm »

hunnovi wrote: post #53
vgivanovic wrote: post #5

What I love most is that Hannah Fry didn't get into the Cambridge undergraduate(?) math program (maths programme for you Brits) but became a math professor at Cambridge. Go Hannah!

She is great at popularity regarding mathematics, but her achievements do not seem to be primarily within hardcore mathematical research, more within popularity and communication. > She is the first Professor of the Public Understanding of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge, I am not sure that she is a "math professor", but that she is a "professor of the public understanding of mathematics". The latter seems…

She was a professor in the mathematics of cities (applied spatial mathematics) before that — in her early thirties.

She is an expert in applied mathematics (president of the applicable UK institute, actually) and this is absolutely of a piece with that; it's not some wishy-washy thing that she does.

Public understanding of science has proved to be a valuable field, and I think this will be important. Her Oxford opposite number, arguably, is Marcus du Sautoy, who has the Public Understanding of Science professorship that was originally created for Dawkins.

Re: Hannah Fry Wins the Leelavati Prize in 2026 for Mathematics Outreach

#63

Post by dofm »

hnlmorg wrote: post #20
rwmj wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's quite an interesting line-up: https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/2026/the-celebrity-traitor...

I normally can’t stand the show but the previous celebrity one was superb! This line up looks great too.

It's not my sort of show but I'd put my money on Julie Hesmondhalgh or (wildcard bet) Amol Rajan.

Re: Hannah Fry Wins the Leelavati Prize in 2026 for Mathematics Outreach

#64

Post by willis936 »

nephihaha wrote: post #47
inamorty wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://youtu.be/ClqvH-uG2Mw Hannah Predicted a Pandemic | The Rest Is Science

So did Bill Gates in his Ted talk six years before and the Event 201 table top exercise six months before lockdown. The second one also managed to predict the use of trusted media and keeping intercontinental flights going throughout the pandemic.

Wait until you watch the 2011 movie Contagion.

Re: Hannah Fry Wins the Leelavati Prize in 2026 for Mathematics Outreach

#65

Post by lotsofpulp »

ErrantX wrote: post #52
mi_lk wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seems to happen to most top universities, or is there some context I'm missing?

Any elite selection process has high risk for not selecting the best people. Either due to corruption or, even more likely, institutional biases. Malcolm Gladwell has a few episodes of revisionist history that looks at some US universities who fall into this trap. Even with all that said; the chances of a selection process for 17/18 year olds being able to correctly select the best future adults in their field is ver…

Did Malcolm Gladwell ever address the lack of scientific rigor in his work, or does he still roll with whatever narrative he thinks will entertain and sell?

Re: Hannah Fry Wins the Leelavati Prize in 2026 for Mathematics Outreach

#67

Post by gregdaniels421 »

edanm wrote: post #66
comprev wrote: post #60

Anyone else here still follow her advice about how to quickly evict all the hot air in your car on a summer's day?

No, but now I really want to know what the advice is! Can you share it?

Roll down an opposite side window and flap a single open door on the other side

Re: Hannah Fry Wins the Leelavati Prize in 2026 for Mathematics Outreach

#68

Post by hunnovi »

dofm wrote: post #62
hunnovi wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

She is great at popularity regarding mathematics, but her achievements do not seem to be primarily within hardcore mathematical research, more within popularity and communication. > She is the first Professor of the Public Understanding of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge, I am not sure that she is a "math professor", but that she is a "professor of the public understanding of mathematics". The latter seems…

She was a professor in the mathematics of cities (applied spatial mathematics) before that — in her early thirties. She is an expert in applied mathematics (president of the applicable UK institute, actually) and this is absolutely of a piece with that; it's not some wishy-washy thing that she does. Public understanding of science has proved to be a valuable field, and I think this will be important. Her Oxford oppos…

> She was a professor in the mathematics of cities (applied spatial mathematics) before that — in her early thirties.

But, that was not at Cambridge, which is what the original post by vgivanovic claimed, right? It was at University College London.

> Public understanding of science has proved to be a valuable field,

I never contested that, assuming that it is done responsibly and well. But that field, as well as a large proportion of her activities and work, as well as the title "Professor of the Public Understanding of Mathematics", seem softer and less hardcore than many other titles for professors regarding mathematics.

A field can be both soft and valuable, assuming the field is handled responsibly and well.

> president of the applicable UK institute

A president is not primarily a researcher, right? More about external relations, strategy, management, etc., as far as I know. Mentioning her being a president weakens your argument, and strengthens my argument, as far as I can tell. There are other former presidents of that institute that likewise have had a more educational focus instead of hardcore research focus, like Celia Hoyles as far as I can tell.

> She is an expert in applied mathematics

She does have a PhD, but apart from that, her research work has been more focused on softer topics as far as I can tell. Do you know of any work after her PhD that was more hardcore research? The publications I found were more soft, like "The Indisputable Existence of Santa Claus (2015)", a few years after completing her PhD.

Do you know if she has been employed in the private sector regarding what one could perceive as more hardcore research or engineering? She seems to be very hardworking and active, and have written a lot of books and worked with a lot of movies and other media, apart from being a president of an institute and being a professor, so it would be impressive if she also found both time and energy for hardcore research. I don't know if other professors would be able to take on that many challenges at once. She cannot be described as lazy by any means.

Re: Hannah Fry Wins the Leelavati Prize in 2026 for Mathematics Outreach

#69

Post by nunodonato »

emmelaich wrote: post #38
tomfakes wrote: post #7

I’m a big fan of her current podcast - The Rest Is Science. Informative and entertaining as well as being easy to listen to (I’m not a fan of many audio-only shows, so listenability is a big factor for me)

I also like it a lot, but Hannah is a bit too giggly at times. Michael has some nerdish intonations. But still love it.

I love her gigglyness :D

Re: Hannah Fry Wins the Leelavati Prize in 2026 for Mathematics Outreach

#70

Post by [deleted] »

hunnovi wrote: post #68
dofm wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

She was a professor in the mathematics of cities (applied spatial mathematics) before that — in her early thirties. She is an expert in applied mathematics (president of the applicable UK institute, actually) and this is absolutely of a piece with that; it's not some wishy-washy thing that she does. Public understanding of science has proved to be a valuable field, and I think this will be important. Her Oxford oppos…

> She was a professor in the mathematics of cities (applied spatial mathematics) before that — in her early thirties. But, that was not at Cambridge, which is what the original post by vgivanovic claimed, right? It was at University College London. > Public understanding of science has proved to be a valuable field, I never contested that, assuming that it is done responsibly and well. But that field, as well as a la…

[deleted]
Post reply on HN