By day Ben Barber is a mathematician researching extremal graph theory, the science of how complicated relationships can get. By night he talks maths at anyone who will listen. He’s done it in pubs, libraries, at science festivals and in under four minutes.
- One two many: why is 3 so much bigger than 2?
- Why are soap bubbles round and salt crystals square?
- Noughts and crosses is boring
Maths is made of ideas, and the only way to get it into people’s heads is to tell a compelling story.
Since 2018 Ben has chaired 8 out of 10 maths, the panel show for anyone who’s ever thought there’s something a bit funny about mathematicians.
Ben has a broad performance background. He was part of sell-out improvised reality TV show The Only Way is Improv, and after a pantomime-related incident accidentally sang barbershop for almost two years.
