For many young people, mathematics is still too often experienced only in the classroom. But for renowned science writer and broadcaster Simon Singh MBE, the case for curiosity-led learning extends well beyond this.
At the newly-opened MathsWorld London, mathematics is presented differently: as something to touch, test, question and play with.
This was on display at a recent event organised by G-Research, a leading quantitative research and technology firm, where Singh spoke to students from King’s College London Mathematics School. The event formed part of G-Research’s founding sponsorship of MathsWorld London as a new public destination for mathematical discovery.
The organisation is focused on early engagement and widening access to high-quality maths experiences. The G-Research event brought a leading voice in mathematics into a space built to inspire the next generation.
For Singh, best known for books including Fermat’s Last Theorem, The Code Book and The Simpsons and Their Mathematical Secrets, places like MathsWorld matter because they offer a different route into the subject.
“I think people engage with maths in all sorts of different ways. You can come to a place like MathsWorld and you can explore maths in a very physical way; you can pick up objects and solve puzzles.”
MathsWorld London, which opened in October 2025, describes itself as the capital’s first maths discovery centre with more than 40 exhibits designed to show the “beauty, creativity, and power of mathematics” through hands-on experiences, puzzles and interactive challenges.
For students already studying mathematics at a high level, the venue offers a chance to hone their skills and learn new ways to approaching the topic.
Singh’s own career has been built around that same premise. He described how working on Fermat’s Last Theorem, first as a TV documentary, then as a book, “ignited an interest in mathematics” that has continued ever since. At MathsWorld, he told students that explaining mathematics has always gone hand in hand with telling the human stories behind it.
“When I started writing books, it was very natural to not only explain the mathematics but then also tell the stories. I hope that appeals to people who love maths, but also people who are maybe a little bit timid about maths, but who are looking for a way to engage.”
It is a message that fits closely with G-Research’s ambition for its NextGen programme. The company says its partnership with MathsWorld London is intended to help make mathematics “engaging, accessible and relevant to everyone”, whilst fitting into a broader effort to support public access to mathematics beyond the classroom.
This is important at a time when educators, policymakers and employers continue to debate how to strengthen the UK’s STEM pipeline. The challenge is not only to support those already excelling in mathematics, but also to create earlier and more welcoming points of entry for pupils who may not yet see the subject as something for them.
The event at MathsWorld offered one version of what that can look like. Students gathered in a space designed not as a classroom but as a space with exhibits built to surprise and challenge – with Singh excited about the new stories being made.
“We’ve got some heroic stories in mathematics, and we should celebrate those stories and be proud to be part of that community whatever we do, whether we’re just a journalist like me, or whether we’re doing research, or whether we’re a student.”
For the students in attendance, the lesson was broader than any single theorem or puzzle. Maths is not only something to solve on paper. It is something to explore, argue with, build, test and tell stories about. And, as G-Research, MathsWorld and Singh both set out to show, those stories may be one of the most powerful tools educators have.
