Puzzles in the Pub Lissy Batt, Pierre-Philippe Dechant, Mary Garrison and Mia Jones
Event details
Just before the year 800, Alcuin of York sent Charlemagne a collection of arithmetical puzzles which he said were to be solved for fun. The puzzles he referred to are assumed to correspond to a collection of ‘Puzzles to Sharpen the Wits’ which survive in over a dozen medieval manuscripts.
The actual puzzles themselves are far older, however, and can be traced back to sources from Ancient Greece and Rome and beyond. The material would now be characterised as recreational mathematics. It includes problems that are still found in modern books of brain teasers.
Why not join us for puzzles at an informal session in the ancient and medieval arithmetical gymnasium?
You may also enjoy Beer and Beowulf on Tuesday 2 June.
Please note: While the venue is wheelchair accessible there are no accessible toilets.
About the speakers
Lissy Batt and Mia Jones
Thanks to Puzzles in Pubs, Mia and Lissy, two undergraduate students at the time, fell in love with historic puzzles. Now, two years later, a Consultant and PhD student respectively, they return to host this wonderful event.
Dr Pierre-Philippe Dechant is an Associate Professor in the School of Mathematics, University of Leeds, where he lectures on the History of Mathematics, is setting up his second data science degree, and is University Incubator Lead for Sustainability and Community Engagement. His interest in public engagement and science communication started with Pint of Science, first as City Coordinator for York and then as Chapter Manager for Yorkshire and the Humber as well as the Northeast for many years. Mary got him interested in Alcuin's puzzles many moons ago!
Dr Mary Garrison is a Lecturer in the History Department and at the Centre for Medieval Studies in York; she has published extensively on literature and learning in the early Middle Ages and has a mission to reintroduce Alcuin to York and vice-versa.
Lydia Williams is a former Latin and Classics teacher seduced into a Medieval Studies Masters degree by Anglo-Saxon poetry and Tolkien. Her research interests lie in comparative literature, exilic poetry, and how halls and social ritual were vital in creating and maintaining pre-Norman communities.
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