The reason why we do maths is because it's like poetry. It's about patterns, and that really turned me on. It made me feel that maths was in tune with the other things I liked doing. Marcus du Sautoy feelmakemath Change image and share on social
The stage is like a laboratory where you can run theatrical experiments, imposing interesting conditions on the cast or story and seeing how they pan out. Each new play is like creating a tiny virtual universe enclosed by the confines of the stage. Marcus du Sautoy castconditionconfine share on social
If I'm flying to China, I can sit and think about a problem. Other scientists have to go to the lab. I'm always thinking about maths, even when I'm doing other things. A lot of the time you're going up blind alleys and it's very frustrating, but then you have a sudden rush of ideas. You can live off that for quite some time. Marcus du Sautoy alleyblindchina share on social
My big thesis is that although the world looks messy and chaotic, if you translate it into the world of numbers and shapes, patterns emerge and you start to understand why things are the way they are. Marcus du Sautoy bigchaoticemerge Change image and share on social
I think my primary audience is in some sense an adult audience, because I think that will then have a knock-on effect for children. Marcus du Sautoy adultaudiencechild Change image and share on social
The point is with good maths skills you have just wonderful opportunities and if you don't have good maths skills, there are just so many things that you won't be able to do. Marcus du Sautoy goodmathopportunity Change image and share on social
The wonderful thing about maths is it's a totally logical subject, and a pathway has been marked out. I think a lot of these things can be crystallised in something quite essential, that people can get. If I can't explain it, I realise that's probably because I don't completely understand it myself. Marcus du Sautoy completelycrystalliseessential share on social
It's my belief that you can take everyone down a logical path if you take them slowly enough, and the trouble is that mathematical brains can get scrambled a little bit on the way. You get a bad teacher, it messes you up for the rest of the journey. Marcus du Sautoy badbeliefbite share on social
I think science is a foreign land for many people, so I think of my role as an ambassador's job. Marcus du Sautoy ambassadorforeignjob Change image and share on social
I'm obviously attuned to pick up mathematics whenever I can see it. But in Mozart there is a lot of conscious use of mathematical symbolism and numbers in order to try and give messages. Marcus du Sautoy attuneconsciousgive Change image and share on social