Great Mathematicians recognise the achievements of other Mathematicians'

Black History Month and is an opportunity to celebrate Mathematicians within the Black community (Maths - 04/10/2023)

October marks Black History Month and is an opportunity to celebrate the achievements and contributions of Mathematicians within the Black community.

One such Mathematician is Thomas Fuller. Thomas Fuller was an enslaved man known for his mental maths ability and demonstrates the magic in being able to work out sums without the use of a calculator.

Many disputed Thomas' ability and he was put to the test. When asked how many seconds there are in a year and a half, Thomas was able to answer correctly in just 2 minutes.

• Do you think you can calculate the answer, without using a calculator?
• Could you beat Thomas' time of 2 minutes?

How about being able to state how many seconds a man had lived who is 70 years, 17 days and 12 hours old?

Thomas Fuller was also able to work this out in his head, remembering to take into consideration leap years!