After running out of time to answer all of your questions in the original 50k subscriber livestream Q&A, I’ve recorded my answers to the remaining 150 questions for you to enjoy. A HUGE thank you to each and every one of you for supporting online maths content – here’s to the next 50k 🙂

Watch part 1 here.

Full list of questions answered with timestamps:

1:27 – Favourite first generation starter Pokémon and favourite maths YouTuber?

2:44. – How tall are you?

2:58. – What is the course that your students struggle the most with?

4:00. – What career paths are possible for a maths major beyond academia?

5:17. – Is practice the main solution to improve at maths?

6:30. – Would Isaac Newton be able to pass a 2021 A-level?

7:51. – How long does it take to do your hair and do you have a personal hair stylist?

8:47. – Have you had any weird or wacky things happen in an interview?

10:21 – What topic do you think students at GCSE and A-level are generally weak at?

12:42 – What’s 10 times Q?

12:55 – Would you say going back to university for a BSc at 30+ is too late to go onto do a PhD?

14:00 – Do you ever get mature students doing maths at Oxford?

14:44 – Why did you choose Oxford?

16:25 – Do you have any suggestions for textbooks for learning mathematics?

17:30 – Apart from different entrance exams, what are the main differences between maths at Oxford and Cambridge?

20:10 – Any advice before starting A-level maths or further maths?

21:34 – Blackboard or whiteboard?

21:49 – What subject would you have studied at university if it wasn’t maths?

22:28 – What is your favourite number?

23:12 – What is your favourite equation and how to choose a perfect topic for research?

25:01 – Are you interested in cryptography and cryptocurrencies?

25:48 – Do you have any fellow mathematicians in Brazil?

26:14 – Most fascinating equation?

27:20 – Any more collabs with 3Blue1Brown?

27:38 – Do you like strawberries?

28:12 – Do you know any universities in the Czech Republic? Or any outside of the UK?

28:56 – What do you look like?

29:21 – Why don’t we understand the distribution of the primes?

30:37 – Which football team do you support and any advice on knowing when to quit academia?

32:45 – What was it like collaborating with 3Blue1Brown?

33:19 – How do you tackle a maths problem if you don’t have knowledge of that particular field?

34:27 – Do you have any theorems or formulas named after you?

35:24 – Do you have a partner?

35:36 – e to the pi or pi to the e – which is better?

36:04 – As a student how did you study?

37:17 – Why did you leave Oxford after undergrad? And why come back after your PhD?

38:34 – Do you enjoy statistics and in particular how it’s used in football?

39:40 – Who is your inspiration for your lifestyle in general and your style of teaching?

41:04 – Any plans for your first real vacation after the pandemic?

41:42 – Is not taking further maths a disadvantage? And general tips for getting into Oxbridge?

43:22 – Would you rather be an irrational number or an integer?

44:15 – Can you solve Rubik’s cube?

44: 56 – Do you think you can make it to 250k subs?

45:05 – Are matrices underestimated/underrated on the high school syllabus?

46:32 – Did you take part in Olympiads in high school? And why has Cambridge produced more famous mathematicians than Oxford?

47:22 – Why do you use a chalkboard and not a whiteboard?

48:00 – Can you explain Euler’s Identity?

49:38 – Why do Oxford not do contextual offers like most other universities?

50:49 – Have you heard of the JEE exam in India?

51:12 – How long will you be doing YouTube for?

51:42 – How do you read a maths paper?

53:02 – Can maths contribute to understanding COVID vaccines?

53:30 – Do you know how to play chess?

53:56 – Favourite Pokémon and favourite Pokémon battle?

55:14 – How hard do you think it is for a foreign student to get into Oxford?

56:30 – Which hypothesis or conjecture would you like to see proven before you die?

56:57 – Stats or mechanics?

57:30 – What maths would I suggest an engineering undergraduate should learn?

58:18 – Is there a scalar product for 3 vectors?

59:10 – Any recommendations for a sixth former to get an idea of what university maths is like?

59:30 – What were my career aspirations during university maths?

1:00:46- Did you enjoy real analysis?

1:01:35– Are you good at mental arithmetic?

1:02:09- Do you have any tips for fresher’s week?

1:02:58– When are you going to solve Navier-Stokes?

1:03:34- Would you like to try the HKALE pure maths paper?  

1:04:03– Why do we use x and y for axis labels and N for integers etc.?

1:04:24– What is your best advice to learn maths for a 16 year old?

1:04:51– What is your next tattoo?

1:05:27- Which maths topic do you think is advancing the fastest with research?

1:06:15– Which of Newton’s laws of motion are your favourite?

1:06:34– How has COVID changed maths lectures?

1:07:12– How do you feel about schools using YouTube channels to build excitement about maths?

1:07:38- Did you get sunburnt last weekend?

1:07:46– Do you watch Pokétubers?

1:07:57– What genre of music do you like?

1:08:34– What are the most promising research directions in fluids?

1:09:07– Which football team do you support?

1:09:13– Are there ways to visualise abstract concepts like groups, manifolds etc.?

1:10:08– Best maths book for number theory for someone aged 17?

1:10:40- Which degrees and careers should I be looking at with chemistry, physics, maths and further maths at A-level?

1:11:36– Would you ever do a talk with A-level students?

1:11:57– Do you follow any sports and if so, who do you support?

1:12:50 -Any advice or resources for someone struggling with calculus?

1:13:30– Cars, motorcycles, or bicycles?

1:14:01– How many languages do you speak?

1:14:48- Is there any theorem or result that you would like to prove?

1:15:22– Are you into any kind of physics and would you like to visit CERN?

1:16:29– Will you marry me?

1:16:41– Do you know any good resources for understanding category theory?

1:17:21– What are the methods to find the inverse of a matrix?

1:18:01- Has teaching made you a better mathematician?

1:18:39– How can I improve my study efficiency?

1:19:35– How many hours did you study a day for A-level?

1:20:21– Does doing 4 A-levels lower the grades to get into Oxford?

1:20:42- How does the velocity of a fluid depend on the width of a pipe?

1:21:56- What do you do when you feel frustrated or self-doubting?

1:23:21– What is your full-time job?

1:24:31– Do you use any kind of electronic device when writing to avoid paper consumption?

1:25:03– Favourite YouTube channels?

1:25:57- What’s your favourite tattoo?

1:26:43– What’s the meaning of the pokéball?

1:27:12- Why is 0/0 not defined?

1:27:40– Glass half-empty or glass half-full?

1:27:46– What were some of your favourite modules from your time as an undergraduate?

1:28:32- Who is your dream collaboration with?

1:29:18– What is your best advice for new university teachers?

1:30:24- What advice would you give to a high school student that wants to study maths?

1:30:57- What’s your favourite song?

1:31:30- Why does a fluid’s velocity depend on the cross-sectional area of a pipe?

1:32:30– What A-levels did you take?

1:32:43- Will you make a video about rewriting a high school maths paper?

1:33:05– What was your childhood like?

1:34:11- Please explain cylindrical polar coordinates?

1:35:16– Is there any country you want to visit after COVID?

1:35:52- What’s the best way to teach maths in an engineering class?

1:36:57– What colour will you dye your hair next time?

1:37:37- Have you ever done a STEP paper?

1:38:28– How did you know you were good enough to pursue a career in maths?

1:40:10- If my grades are low is it a good idea to pursue a degree in maths?

1:40:56– What’s your take on algebraic geometry?

1:41:18– What’s your favourite flavour of ice cream?

1:42:01– Does GCSE further maths help in the transition to A-level?

1:42:35- What is a career that includes maths?

1:43:33- If you were in charge of the world’s education what would you add or remove from the curriculum?

1:45:11– Can you give an example from math 55?

1:45:34- Do you need to have higher IQ to understand maths?

1:46:53- How naïve is it to want to study maths to become a researcher?

1:48:14- How do you get into Oxford or Cambridge for maths?

1:48:36- Algebra versus calculus?

1:49:10- Is further maths A-level only for the naturally gifted or can it be done through hard work?