Need a mortgage? Buying a new car? Going on holiday? You won't get far unless you have a basic grasp of mathematics. But for something that plays such a vital role in our everyday lives, maths has a poor popular image. Professor Chris Budd (OBE) has devoted his working life trying to change that, demonstrating and talking about the beauty of mathematics and its role in everything from folk dancing and food, to cancer treatment and space travel.
Professor Budd is in New Zealand as a visiting Seelye Fellow at the University of Auckland. As well as collaborating with science scholars, he will give a public lecture in Auckland on 18 August and is also visiting several schools in Palmerston North. His public lecture will use differential equations, statistics and a touch of chaos to see whether maths can help us make sense of one of the biggest issues of our time: climate change.
Chris Budd is the Director of the award-winning Bath Taps into Science festival held each year in the UK city where he is a Professor of Applied Mathematics at the University of Bath.
