Matthew Thomas Parker (born 22 December 1980) is an Australian recreational mathematician, author, comedian,

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

personality and

science communicator Science communication encompasses a wide range of activities that connect science and society. Common goals of science communication include informing non-experts about scientific findings, raising the public awareness of and interest in sci ...

based in the United Kingdom. His book ''Humble Pi'' was the first mathematics book in the UK to be a ''

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'' No. 1 bestseller. Parker was the Public Engagement in Mathematics Fellow at

Queen Mary University of London Queen Mary University of London (QMUL, or informally QM, and formerly Queen Mary and Westfield College) is a public university, public research university in Mile End, East London, England. It is a member institution of the federal University ...

. He is a former teacher and has helped popularise mathematics via his tours and videos.

Early life and education

Matt Parker was born in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, Western Australia, and grew up in the northern suburb of Duncraig. He began showing an interest in maths and science from a young age, and at one point was part of his school's

titration Titration (also known as titrimetry and volumetric analysis) is a common laboratory method of Quantitative research, quantitative Analytical chemistry, chemical analysis to determine the concentration of an identified analyte (a substance to be ...

team. Parker went to the

University of Western Australia University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Crawley, Western Australia, Crawley, a suburb in the City of Perth local government area. UW ...

and started off studying

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

before he "realized the very real risk of being employable at the end of it." He switched into physics and later mathematics. His love of maths led him to want a job in the subject. While at university, Parker wrote comedy for ''

Pelican Pelicans (genus ''Pelecanus'') are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterized by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before ...

'', the students' magazine, and produced comedy sketches. Having become interested in comedy, he enrolled on course for stand-up.

Career

After college, Parker taught maths in Australia for a while before moving to London and continuing teaching. He became involved in support education, working with universities and other organizations to arrange maths talks. He later returned to teaching, before stopping after one year. He now helps students communicate mathematics to other people, speaks at schools, does media work, and occasionally writes about maths. His goal is "to get more people more excited about maths." Parker has appeared in numerous

videos, talking about various subjects related to mathematics. He has his own YouTube channel, "Stand-up Maths", with over one million subscribers, and also frequently appears as a guest on other popular channels such as

Brady Haran Brady John Haran (born 18 June 1976) is an Australian-British independent filmmaker and video journalist who produces educational videos and documentary films for his YouTube channels, the most notable being ''Computerphile'' and ''Numberph ...

's ''

Numberphile ''Numberphile'' is an Educational entertainment, educational YouTube channel featuring videos that explore topics from a variety of fields of mathematics. In the early days of the channel, each video focused on a specific number, but the channe ...

'' and

James May James Daniel May (born 16 January 1963) is an English television presenter and journalist. He is best known as a co-presenter, alongside Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond, of the motoring programme ''Top Gear (2002 TV series), Top Gear'' fr ...

's Head Squeeze (now BritLab). Parker has made videos about unboxing calculators, including the Little Professor; he presents these videos as a member of a fictional "Calculator Appreciation Society". He also appeared in a Tom Scott YouTube video, where they gave tips for users of the London Underground. In 2012, Parker and fellow comedian

Timandra Harkness Timandra Harkness is a British writer, presenter and comedian. She has contributed to several publications, including '' BBC Science Focus'' magazine and ''The Daily Telegraph'', and authored the book ''Big Data: Does Size Matter?''. Harkness ha ...

co-wrote a comedy show called Your Days are Numbered: The Maths of Death. They performed the show in Australia, at the Adelaide Fringe and Melbourne International Comedy Festival, on tour around England and in Scotland, at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Parker has also toured the UK solo and as part of comedy group Festival of the Spoken Nerd, along with

Helen Arney Helen Arney is a British presenter, stand-up comedian and musician. She has toured with the '' Uncaged Monkeys'' alongside comedian Robin Ince and Professor Brian Cox. Described as a "geek songstress" by the Edinburgh Reporter, Arney plays th ...

and

Steve Mould Steve Mould (born 5 October 1978) is a British educational YouTuber, author, and science presenter who is most notable for making science-related educational videos on his YouTube channel. Early life Mould was born on 5 October 1978 in Gatesh ...

. His first solo tour, ''Matt Parker: Number Ninja,'' finished in July 2013, while his second solo tour, "Matt Parker: Now in 4D", started in late 2014. He has written the book ''Things to Make and Do in the Fourth Dimension''. His second book, ''Humble Pi,'' was released in March 2019 and was a ''Sunday Times'' #1 bestseller. In 2024, his third book, ''

Love Triangle A love triangle is a scenario or circumstance, usually depicted as a rivalry, in which two people are pursuing or involved in a romantic relationship with one person, or in which one person in a romantic relationship with someone is simultaneo ...

'', was published. In 2014, Parker set up Think Maths, a team of experienced mathematics speakers who visit schools to run workshops and give talks for a wide range of ages and abilities, to show students the wider world of maths beyond school while giving them a chance to develop mathematical thinking skills. In 2016, Parker appeared briefly as a guest on the British comedy panel game quiz show, '' QI''. QED 20161015 274

Parker has appeared on

BBC Radio Four BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of Talk radio, spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at B ...

's ''

The Infinite Monkey Cage ''The Infinite Monkey Cage'' is a BBC Radio 4 comedy and popular science series. Hosted by physicist Brian Cox and comedian Robin Ince, ''The Independent'' described it as a "witty and irreverent look at the world according to science". Since 2 ...

'' with

Robin Ince Robin Ince (born 20 February 1969) is an English comedian, actor and writer. He is known for presenting the BBC radio show '' The Infinite Monkey Cage'' with physicist Brian Cox, creating Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People, co-creatin ...

and Brian Cox. He has also talked about maths-related topics on

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

Sky News Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel, live stream news network and news organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of ...

Channel4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded entirely by its commercia ...

CBBC CBBC is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 to 12. Its sister c ...

, and occasionally writes for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''. On TV, Parker is a regular commentator on

Discovery Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discovery ...

's ''

Outrageous Acts of Science ''Outrageous Acts of Science'' is a science program shown on Science Channel in the United States, featuring a fast-paced countdown of the top 20 internet videos in each episode. The series first aired in the United Kingdom on Discovery Internati ...

''. For the 2019 edition of the

Royal Institution Christmas Lectures The Royal Institution Christmas Lectures are a series of lectures on a single topic each, which have been held at the Royal Institution in London each year since 1825. The lectures present scientific subjects to a general audience, including yo ...

, televised on

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

, Parker assisted presenter

Hannah Fry Hannah Fry (born 21 February 1984) is a British mathematician, author and broadcaster. She is Professor of the Public awareness of science, Public Understanding of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge, a fellow of Queens' College, Cambrid ...

in several segments. In October 2017, Parker started a petition to "Update the UK Traffic Signs Regulations to a geometrically correct football." In a YouTube video, he explained why the current football shape on traffic signs is incorrect and geometrically impossible. Parker described the current signs as a "national embarrassment" and said he hopes the petition will "help raise public awareness and appreciation of geometry." Parker discussed the issue on You Can't Polish A Nerd. According to him, the government initially dismissed the petition because he is a comedian. By November 2017, the petition had gained over 22,000 signatures. The UK government has responded by saying "the current football symbol has a clear meaning and is understood by the public. Changing the design to show accurate geometry is not appropriate in this context." Parker said he felt "like the

Department for Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport ...

had not read the petition properly". The official response stated it would be too costly to replace the current signs; however, Parker said he only asked for a "precedent for the new signs". In regards to the exact geometry of a football, Parker said he is "not asking for angles and measurements on the sign, just for it to look more like a football". In 2024, he created a new petition to change the real footballs to look like the signs when viewed from one angle, because “if we can't get the signs changed to match a real football, maybe we can get the football changed to match the signs”. Together with another YouTube mathematics populariser,

Vi Hart Victoria "Vi" Hart ( ; born 1988) is an American mathematician and former YouTuber. They describe themself as a "recreational mathemusician" and are well-known for creating mathematical videos on YouTube and popularizing mathematics. Hart found ...

, Parker won the 2018 Communications Award of the

Joint Policy Board for Mathematics The Joint Policy Board for Mathematics (JPBM) consists of the American Mathematical Society, the American Statistical Association, the Mathematical Association of America, and the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics. The Board has nea ...

for "communicating the excitement of mathematics to a worldwide audience through YouTube videos, TV and radio appearances, book and newspaper writings, and stand-up comedy". Parker hosts two podcasts. The newer of the two, ''A Podcast of Unnecessary Detail''., is co-hosted with

and

; the three also perform as the comedy troupe Festival of the Spoken Nerd, and have a stage show titled ''An Evening of Unnecessary Detail'', from which the podcast derives its name. In the podcast, each of the hosts brings a topic, usually maths or science related, which they explain to the audience. The first series of six episodes aired during September, 2020 as a way for the troupe to continue to perform their show during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. A second series of twelve episodes aired during 2022. The older podcast is ''A Problem Squared'', which is formatted as an advice-based podcast, and is co-hosted with author, comedian, and TV presenter

Bec Hill Rebecca Natani Hill is an Australian comedian, writer, presenter, actor, director, and YouTuber born in Adelaide who is now based in the UK. Career Hill incorporates arts and crafts into her stand-up routines in something she calls paper pu ...

. In ''A Problem Squared'', each cohost presents a problem submitted by listeners, which they attempt to exhaustively solve via their own research, sometimes bringing in special guests. New episodes aired monthly from November 2019, to January 2022, and then semimonthly starting in March 2022.

Awards

Parker was awarded the 2020

IMA IMA or Ima may refer to: Education * Indian Military Academy, Dehradun * Instituto Miguel Ángel, a school in Mexico City Galleries and museums * Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indiana, US * Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, France * Islamic Mus ...

- LMS Christopher Zeeman Medal in recognition of his "excellence in the communication of mathematics". The award citation highlights work on YouTube, his books, Think Maths, Maths Inspiration, MathsJam, Maths Gear, and his work in broadcast media. On 15 August 2024, the

main-belt asteroid The asteroid belt is a torus-shaped region in the Solar System, centered on the Sun and roughly spanning the space between the orbits of the planets Jupiter and Mars. It contains a great many solid, irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids ...

314159 Mattparker was named in his honour. The citation highlights Parker's biennial "

Pi Day Pi Day is an annual celebration of the mathematical constant (pi). Pi Day is observed on March 14 (the 3rd month) since 3, 1, and 4 are the first three significant figures of , and was first celebrated in the United States. It was founded i ...

challenges", stating that they have helped to popularise mathematics. (including an interview with the discoverer)

Recreational mathematics contributions

Parker introduced the

recreational mathematics Recreational mathematics is mathematics carried out for recreation (entertainment) rather than as a strictly research-and-application-based professional activity or as a part of a student's formal education. Although it is not necessarily limited ...

concept of a grafting number, an

integer An integer is the number zero (0), a positive natural number (1, 2, 3, ...), or the negation of a positive natural number (−1, −2, −3, ...). The negations or additive inverses of the positive natural numbers are referred to as negative in ...

with the property that the

square root In mathematics, a square root of a number is a number such that y^2 = x; in other words, a number whose ''square'' (the result of multiplying the number by itself, or y \cdot y) is . For example, 4 and −4 are square roots of 16 because 4 ...

of the integer, when expressed in base ''b,'' will contain the original integer itself before or directly after the decimal point . Each odd-numbered year on 14 March, Parker organizes what has been described as "Pi day challenges", where he attempts to calculate the number pi by hand. In 2024, Parker and a team of hundreds of volunteers at

City of London School The City of London School, also known as CLS and City, is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school for Single-sex education, boys in the City of London, England, on the banks of the River Thames next to the Millennium Bridge, ...

spent six days calculating 139 correct digits of pi by hand, in what he claimed was "the biggest hand calculation in a century". Parker is the namesake of the

Parker square In mathematics, especially History of mathematics, historical and recreational mathematics, a square array of numbers, usually positive integers, is called a magic square if the sums of the numbers in each row, each column, and both main diago ...

, an

internet meme An Internet meme, or meme (, Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''MEEM''), is a cultural item (such as an idea, behavior, or style) that spreads across the Internet, primarily through Social media, social media platforms. Internet memes manif ...

consisting of a trivial semimagic square. Parker was attempting to create a magic square made up of all square numbers, however fell quite short of the goal. The semimagic square Parker created uses some numbers more than once, and the diagonal sums to , not as for all the other rows, columns, or diagonal. The Parker Square became a "mascot for people who give it a go, but ultimately fall short". It is also a metaphor for something that is almost right, but is a little off.

Personal life

Parker married the English solar physicist

Lucie Green Lucinda "Lucie" Green (born ) is a British science communicator and solar physicist. Green is a Professor of Physics and a Royal Society University Research Fellow (previously the Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellow) at Mullard Space Science ...

in July 2014. The couple used wedding rings made of

meteoric iron Meteoric iron, sometimes meteoritic iron, is a native metal and early-universe protoplanetary-disk remnant found in meteorites and made from the elements iron and nickel, mainly in the form of the mineral phases kamacite and taenite. Meteoric ...

. He now lives in

Godalming Godalming ( ) is a market town and civil parish in southwest Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, at the confluence of the Rivers Wey and Ock. The civil parish covers and includes the settl ...

, England. He has a

labrador retriever The Labrador Retriever or simply Labrador or Lab is a British list of dog breeds, breed of water dog retriever gun dog. It was developed in the United Kingdom from St. John's water dogs imported from the Newfoundland Colony, colony of Newfoun ...

called Skylab who has her own YouTube channel.

Bibliography

* * *

Notes

References

External links

* * *
Festival of the Spoken Nerd
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parker, Matt 1980 births Living people Australian YouTubers Comedy YouTubers Australian mathematicians Australian male comedians University of Western Australia alumni Recreational mathematicians Mathematics popularizers Australian emigrants to England Australian expatriates in England Writers from Perth, Western Australia Online edutainment Educational and science YouTubers Comedians from Perth, Western Australia YouTubers from Perth, Western Australia