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Shortly before Easter 2010 I was privileged to attend the
Gathering For Gardner, an event that celebrates the continuing
life and work of Martin Gardner. The gathering brings together
people with an interest in magic, puzzles, recreational maths,
and the connection between them.
Everyone at the Gathering is amazingly generous, sharing tricks,
problems, puzzles, and I learned so much, it was fantastic.
The week after Easter I was at the British Congress for Maths Education
(BCME) and over lunch we were swapping puzzles and problems.
David Bedford said, "There isn't a similar event in the UK to the
Gathering for Gardner, is there?"
"Not to my knowledge." I replied.
"Why don't you organise one, then?" said David, and so the
MathsJam Gathering was born.
The Monthly MathsJams were already well established
and I managed to snag Matt Parker and James Grime, to buy them a
coffee, and to try to figure out what could possibly go wrong.
We thought about what would have to be done, and how we would
have to do it, and it seemed like it could work.
And it should be fun.
And so it started. We're just a bunch of friends, interested in
maths, wanting to share what we know, and in return be entertained
and intrigued by others who share our love of fun in maths.
We're not professional events organisers, and we're not intending
this to be a formal "training" or "educational" conference or event.
It's just a gathering of people who share an enthusiasm for
recreational maths.
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