THE ROYAL INSTITUTION MATHEMATICS MASTERCLASS 2011
Saturday 22nd January 2011
Upon successfully completing the selection process for the Mathematics Master Classes and feeling quite privileged having being one of six year 9 pupils chosen from The Archbishop Lanfranc School, I arrived promptly at Wilsons School at 9.30 am ( which was in fact a whole 15 minutes earlier than the session was due to commence) and followed the directional arrows towards the theatre.
I was quite surprised as I entered the semi-filled room; I had not been expecting myself and the other boys and girls from schools across the borough of Croydon to be sitting in and listening to a lecture that was to be carried out in a university-style fashion. Within no time at all the session was over and the time was 12.30 pm. I just could not believe where the time had gone… You may be wondering how the 2 hours and 45 minutes were spent and I know you too will be quite interested to learn that we did not just sit in our seats trying to work out:
Xi = Xa1-I + C MOD M
Although the above equation was given to us as a starter, it was only just a fraction of the remainder of the session. The rest of the lecture, which was given to us by Mr A Fitzharris, from the University of Hertfordshire, was based on Codes and Ciphers and we were also briefed on Ciphers in World War II. During our short time we all soon became familiar with the Enigma Machine and how this device helped decipher secret messages. This was a fascinating mathematical angle from a historical perspective…I talked about nothing else for the entire weekend! So far (other than the very obvious applications and uses of mathematics in our daily lives), I have only had to extend my knowledge of maths in my personal life to perhaps book-keeping/accounts, web-design/ programming etc… This was most definitely an eye-opener and as I journeyed home, I reflected upon my previous history lessons at school that were on the Holocaust… It really got me thinking about how Enigma Machines would have contributed enormously in our strategies towards the opposition during World War II.
Mohsin Bukhari
9.8