Below is a translation of the original Portuguese article in Men’s Health here. 

Make science more interesting for a young age group. This is the main objective of Tom Crawford, who teaches first and second year degree seconds. In addition to guaranteeing a very attractive teaching method for his students – here we go – the English teacher was also known for the work he presents on his website and YouTube channel, which is currently the channel of this platform dedicated to the most viewed mathematics teaching, with over 3 million subscribers.

In these channels, Tom Crawford undresses, layer by layer, while explaining a certain mathematical theme. The idea came up before I had a project in my own name, since it belonged to ‘Naked Scientists’. But it is on your own site that you gain name and success for what you do.

That Crawford’s name is increasingly known, there is no doubt. But although the teacher undresses (literally) of prejudice, he has already proven several times that he has the gift of making mathematics interesting to an audience that is difficult at first, by the practical examples he uses to teach. Explaining mathematics in sport to a lecture in Madrid exemplifies this.

Starting with football, Crawford wanted to demonstrate how to take advantage of mathematics to ensure a perfect penalty. After explaining the equation, the professor invited the students present at the lecture in Spain to put the theory into practice.

Already in the race, and using a current case, this same teacher was also able to explain how Eliud Kigchoge managed to beat the record for finishing a marathon in less than two hours.

Certain that this was not the only decisive factor for the marathon runner’s success, Crawford’s focus was on the shoes that were used by the runner. Once again, it proved how mathematics is present in everyday life and can be of interest to many.