Festival Keynote | Johnny Ball

Title | "Johnny Ball's "Wonders Beyond Numbers"

A short meander through the Early History of Mathematics with Maths Gems that All have Relevance Today.

Johnny visits lesser known historic maths milestones, showing how very relevant they still are in our modern world and how a mathematical eye on the past, can be motivational in explaining and simplifying the modern world enormously.

About Johnny

Johnny Ball has been inspiring over Maths and Science for over 40 years, writing and presenting 20 Factual Children’s TV Series, winning UK and international Awards and inspiring thousands of young people towards careers in Science, Engineering and Teaching.

Staring out as a Comedian, Johnny wrote and produced five educational stage musicals, two sponsored by the UK Department of Education and producing many award winning videos. His Mind Zone Show, “With Your Mind and Tomorrow’s Technology, Anything is Possible” in The Millennium Dome, SOLD OUT throughout 2000.

He is past President of the National Association for Gifted Children and Ambassador for British Engineering for over 25 years. With no University experience or qualifications, Johnny is completely self motivated and at 83, is still Lecturing widely on Maths and Science for audiences of all ages.

His books, in over 40 languages, sell very well in China. His talks illustrate how much clarity can be gained by studying Maths and Science concepts at their time and place of origin and all are featured in his latest Book, “Wonders Beyond Numbers - a brief history of all things mathematical.” Maths Professor and Author Ian Stewart said recently, "Wonders is Brilliant. Had I found this in my teens, I would have devoured it!"

About Festival Keynotes

Across two weeks, we will broadcast a series of keynote sessions from leading educationalists and thought leaders from across the globe. These keynotes will be streamed online and free to attend for everybody.

Festival keynotes will be 60-90 minutes long and typically include a live Q&A opportunity with the audience at home.

Keynotes will be announced via our website educationfest.co.uk.

About the Festival

The Festival of Education has become one of the most exciting, credible and inspiring education events of the year. The global Covid-19 pandemic will once again prevent us from holding the Festival within the beautiful grounds of Wellington College – the home of the Festival of Education.

But we’re excited to be able to provide a virtual festival experience in 2021, and thanks to the support of Wellington College and our partners we’re able to provide free access to all Festival-goers this year.

This two-week virtual festival will host speakers of international renown and topical, meaningful and thought-provoking sessions. Our “Friday Fest” days will provide an array of meaningful CPD sessions across a variety of themes.

It won’t be the same as the real physical event – but we are determined to provide an inspiring virtual space for teachers and educators across the globe.