Maths History

Guides in this topic

• A Ada Lovelace and patterns 1 guide Connect early computing ideas to patterns, instructions and logic.
• A Ada Lovelace and the first computer ideas 1 guide Connect patterns, instructions and machines through a story about early computing.
• A Al-Khwarizmi and algebra 1 guide Explain how algebra and algorithm words connect to mathematical history.
• A Al-Khwarizmi and the birth of algorithms 1 guide Explain how a mathematician's name became linked to step-by-step rules that computers and children both use.
• A Alan Turing codebreaking puzzles 1 guide Introduce logic, patterns and codes through a careful age-appropriate codebreaking adventure.
• S Algebra tiles through history 1 guide Connect modern classroom tiles with old ideas of area and unknowns.
• A Ancient Egyptian measuring rods 1 guide Use cubits and body measures to compare old measurement systems with centimetres and metres.
• A Ancient Egyptian rope-stretchers 1 guide A geometry adventure about using ropes, knots and right angles to mark out land after the Nile floods.
• A Ancient Greek geometry adventures 1 guide Meet points, lines, triangles and circles through stories about measuring land and proving shape facts.
• A Archimedes and the bathtub problem 1 guide Use a funny historical story to introduce volume, floating, measuring and scientific curiosity.
• A Archimedes for children 1 guide Tell stories of measurement, circles, levers and problem solving.
• A Aryabhata and place-value thinking 1 guide A gentle story about ancient Indian mathematics, astronomy and the power of positions in numbers.
• B Babylonian base 60 1 guide Connect ancient base-60 counting to minutes, seconds and angles.
• B Babylonian clay tablet maths 1 guide Introduce clay-tablet calculation, place value and why written maths helped people solve hard problems.
• x Babylonian times table tablets 1 guide Explore the idea that children and scribes learned multiplication long before modern classrooms.
• B Benjamin Banneker's clocks and stars 1 guide Use clock-making and astronomy to connect time, angles and careful measurement.
• B Brahmagupta and the rules of zero 1 guide Introduce the idea that mathematicians had to invent rules for zero, with simple examples for juniors.
• C Charles Babbage and the calculating engine 1 guide Explore gears, repeated steps and why machines can help with arithmetic.
• C Children who changed maths 1 guide Collect stories of young problem solvers and inventors to inspire junior mathematicians.
• C Chinese rod numerals and place value 1 guide Explore how counting rods can show place value, addition and subtraction in a hands-on way.
• C Counting with knots and strings 1 guide Explore quipu-style record keeping and string maths as a pattern and place-value adventure.
• D Dorothy Vaughan and the human computers 1 guide Tell a teamwork story about calculation, programming and learning new tools.
• E Egyptian bread and beer fraction puzzles 1 guide Turn ancient sharing problems into modern child-friendly fraction challenges.
• E Emmy Noether and symmetry detective work 1 guide Introduce symmetry as a powerful idea through an inspiring mathematician biography.
• E Emmy Noether for curious children 1 guide Introduce symmetry and patterns through a pioneering mathematician.
• E Eratosthenes and prime numbers 1 guide Use the sieve method to find prime numbers.
• E Euclid and the rules of shapes 1 guide A child-friendly introduction to building geometry from definitions, drawings and logical steps.
• E Euclid for children 1 guide Explore geometry, logic and proof through simple shape ideas.
• F Fibonacci and rabbit numbers 1 guide Introduce a famous sequence through a story and patterns.
• F Fibonacci rabbits and number patterns 1 guide Turn the classic rabbit problem into a pattern hunt for older primary learners.
• F Fibonacci spirals in nature 1 guide Look for spirals in flowers, shells and pinecones while keeping the maths simple and visual.
• F Finger counting around the world 1 guide Compare finger-counting traditions and turn hands into a portable maths machine for early arithmetic.
• F Florence Nightingale and data 1 guide Connect statistics, diagrams and real-world decision making.
• F Florence Nightingale and data pictures 1 guide Show how graphs can tell a powerful story and help people make better decisions.
• S Funny mistakes in maths history 1 guide Use harmless historical misunderstandings and notation changes to show maths evolves.
• G Galileo and measuring motion 1 guide Introduce timing, distance and data through rolling balls and observation.
• S Gauss and the quick sum story 1 guide Use the famous classroom tale as a way to pair numbers, noting stories can grow over time.
• G Grace Hopper and the computer bug 1 guide Use a funny computing story to introduce debugging, checking and logical thinking.
• H House of Wisdom maths quest 1 guide Explore how scholars translated, shared and improved mathematical ideas across cultures.
• H How shepherds counted sheep before calculators 1 guide Use pebbles, knots and tally marks to show why counting tools mattered in everyday life.
• H How the decimal point changed numbers 1 guide Connect decimal notation to money, measures and the challenge of writing tiny amounts.
• H How zero helped merchants calculate 1 guide Connect place value, written algorithms and fair trading through a junior-friendly history page.
• H Hypatia and the library of Alexandria 1 guide Tell an age-appropriate story about learning, astronomy and mathematics in ancient Alexandria.
• H Hypatia for children 1 guide Tell the story of an ancient mathematician and teacher.
• K Katherine Johnson and space maths 1 guide Show how careful calculation helped space missions.
• L Learn maths like an Egyptian scribe 1 guide Use the Rhind Mathematical Papyrus as a story hook for fractions, sharing, grain, bread and building problems.
• L Leonardo da Vinci measurement mysteries 1 guide Use inventions, sketches and body proportions as hooks for measuring and estimating.
• M Magic squares from ancient China 1 guide Use the Lo Shu story as a hook for addition, patterns and number grids.
• M Mary Everest Boole and string geometry 1 guide Introduce hands-on geometry and mathematical creativity.
• M Mary Jackson and engineering maths 1 guide Connect measurement, speed, forces and problem solving through an inspiring engineering biography.
• M Maryam Mirzakhani and drawing on surfaces 1 guide Introduce creative mathematical drawing, maps and surfaces for curious older children.
• M Maryam Mirzakhani for children 1 guide Connect drawing, surfaces and creative mathematical thinking.
• M Maths before paper 1 guide Use clay, sand, stone, knots and memory to show how people did maths without notebooks.
• # Maths in ancient games 1 guide Find counting, strategy and probability in old board games.
• M Maths in architecture 1 guide Find symmetry, measurement and geometry in buildings.
• M Maths myths that are not quite true 1 guide Bust simple myths such as 'one person invented maths' and show how ideas grew across cultures.
• M Maths words from other languages 1 guide Explore origins of words such as algebra, algorithm, zero and cipher.
• M Mayan calendar maths for children 1 guide Explore cycles, counting days and repeating patterns through a safe introduction to ancient calendars.
• M Mayan shell zero adventure 1 guide Tell the story of an independent zero symbol in the Maya calendar and compare it with modern place value.
• M Merchant maths in medieval markets 1 guide Use money, weights and trading routes to show why arithmetic became powerful.
• S Napier's bones story 1 guide Introduce John Napier's calculating rods and multiplication shortcuts.
• x Old-school times table chanting 1 guide Look at traditional reciting methods and adapt them into kind, funny, modern practice.
• O Origami and geometry 1 guide Use paper folding to explore symmetry, angles and fractions.
• P Pyramid builders and slope maths 1 guide Explore measurement, angles and estimation through the adventure of planning a pyramid.
• P Pythagoras for children 1 guide Introduce patterns in right triangles without overloading formal proof.
• P Pythagoras triangle detective 1 guide Introduce right triangles, square patterns and the famous theorem as a visual puzzle for older juniors.
• R Ramanujan and number patterns 1 guide Introduce a mathematician famous for extraordinary number insights.
• R Renaissance artists and perspective maths 1 guide Show how lines, proportion and vanishing points helped artists make flat pictures look 3D.
• R Roman market maths 1 guide Create shopping and counting challenges using I, V, X, L and C in a Roman marketplace.
• R Roman numerals and the missing zero 1 guide Use clocks, chapter numbers and treasure codes to show Roman numerals and why place value changed everything.
• S Slide rules for children 1 guide Explore a pre-calculator tool used by engineers and scientists.
• S Sophie Germain for children 1 guide Explore perseverance and number theory in an age-appropriate way.
• S Sophie Germain's secret maths name 1 guide A resilience story about curiosity, prime numbers and learning even when doors are closed.
• S Srinivasa Ramanujan and number patterns 1 guide Use taxi numbers, partitions and pattern spotting as magical hooks for older juniors.
• S Stone Age counting marks 1 guide Turn early tally marks into a detective story about keeping track of animals, days and treasures before written numbers.
• S Tangram geometry story 1 guide Turn the ancient puzzle of seven pieces into lessons on shape, rotation, area and creativity.
• S Tangrams history 1 guide Explore the classic Chinese dissection puzzle and shape creativity.
• T The abacus as an ancient calculator 1 guide Show how beads can represent place value and make large calculations feel visible.
• S The decimal point story 1 guide Explore why decimals needed a clear separator.
• / The division sign story 1 guide Compare ÷, / and fraction bars.
• T The equal sign adventure 1 guide Show how the equals sign means balance, not just 'write the answer here'.
• S The equals sign story 1 guide Explain how the equals symbol became a shorthand for equality.
• T The first calculators 1 guide Tell the story of mechanical calculators before digital devices.
• T The first shopping lists and number records 1 guide Show how trade, food stores and lists helped numbers become useful in ancient cities.
• T The global journey of our numbers 1 guide Follow 0 to 9 across cultures and centuries, showing that maths is a shared human story.
• S The history of maths symbols 1 guide Explain where +, −, ×, ÷ and = came from and why symbols make maths quicker to write.
• S The history of school slates and chalk maths 1 guide Explore how children practised arithmetic before exercise books, tablets and whiteboards.
• T The Ishango bone number mystery 1 guide Explore one famous ancient counting bone as a child-friendly number-pattern puzzle, with careful wording about what historians know and do not know.
• S The metric system story 1 guide Introduce the idea of a measurement system based on powers of ten.
• x The multiplication sign story 1 guide Compare ×, · and parentheses as multiplication notation.
• T The mystery of the 360-degree circle 1 guide Connect circles, angles and ancient number systems through a junior-friendly history puzzle.
• S The plus and minus signs story 1 guide Explore how common operation symbols developed.
• T The Pythagorean theorem as a puzzle 1 guide Use squares on triangle sides as a visual puzzle for older children.
• W When people counted in twenties 1 guide Introduce base-20 counting through hands and feet, with links to old number words and global cultures.
• W Why a dozen means 12 1 guide Explore dozens, eggs, clocks and highly factorable numbers.
• W Why algebra is called algebra 1 guide Use balancing scales, missing numbers and historical word roots to make algebra feel like a puzzle.
• W Why clocks count to 60 1 guide A base-60 adventure linking Babylonian maths to seconds, minutes, angles and circles.
• W Why ten became a special number 1 guide Explain base 10 through fingers, place value, money and everyday counting systems.
• W Why there are 360 degrees in a circle 1 guide Connect circles, factors and ancient number systems in a simple way.
• W Why zero changed mathematics 1 guide Show how zero made place value, large numbers and later maths much more powerful.