The second group of essays from the 2021 Teddy Rocks Maths Competition come from entrants with names beginning with B-D. The showcase will take place throughout May with the winners being announced at the end of the month.

The competition was organised with St Edmund Hall at the University of Oxford and offers a cash prize plus publication on the university website. It will be running again in early 2022 so be sure to follow Tom (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube) to make sure you don’t miss the announcement!

All essays can be read in full (as submitted) by clicking on the title below. If you enjoy any of them please let the author know by leaving a comment.

Batrysha takes us on a journey of exploration with the ever-fascinating golden ratio.

Bea explains her favourite mathematical theorem – the pigeonhole principle – through a rather hairy example.

Beitiris delves into the wonderful world of sequences and series, where the sum of all positive whole numbers can equal -1/12.

Ben outlines the infamous Riemann Hypothesis and explains what you have to do to get your hands on the million-dollar prize.

Benjy provides a succinct introduction to Quantum Theory and our attempts to understand this world of uncertainty.

Bob explores the connections between ‘space’, ‘time’ and the universe.

Caitlin looks at the relationship between mathematics and art using examples from some of the most famous artists on the planet.

Caleb explores the history of complex numbers and shows how something deemed ‘imaginary’ can in fact be incredibly useful.

Casano invites us to explore chaos through a simple ‘try-it-at-home’ experiment involving coins and a table.

Christopher looks at the maths behind the impossible music of Jacob Collier and his acapella arrangement of ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’.

Chris takes us to the land of the rising sun and challenges us to solve ancient puzzles set by samurai warriors.

Dylan explores the origins of complex numbers and how they have developed from a mathematicians ‘play-thing’ to an important tool in the modern world.