Perhaps the problem lies with the experience that so many parents had in their own schooldays. Many adults look back on the maths they studied as difficult, dull and – the ultimate killer – pointless. Why, they might ask, did they spend all those hours studying logarithms, when they've never needed them since?

With those kind of attitudes, it's not surprising that many children also have a negative view of maths, and drop it at the first opportunity (which is at GCSE).

And this, unfortunately, is a huge problem for our country.
If there is one thing that universities, employers and Government all seem to agree on, it is that our economy needs more mathematicians.

There are some obvious places where a maths A-level will come in useful – those bankers in the City who have been messing up recently have clearly been getting their numbers wrong.

But, increasingly, a maths A-level is becoming an important ticket to just about every profession you can think of. The engineers who are designing the London Olympic stadium, the designers behind the next generation of computer-animated games, doctors, scientists and anyone in business, all encounter significant levels of maths and statistics in their work.

And, increasingly, UK employers have to recruit from overseas to find people with the necessary maths skills.

So what can we do to persuade more children to take maths to A-level and beyond? No doubt it would help if they knew more about just how important maths is to getting a good job. That – and the prospect of making money as a result – might motivate some.

However, learning something because it might one day be useful will only take an adolescent so far. Maybe we actually need to help
children – and their parents – to enjoy maths, regardless of its practical use.

I know, I know – the words "maths" and "enjoyment" are not natural bedfellows. But that is largely to do with the way that it is taught. If we couldonly expose people to real maths, creative maths, the sort of maths that mathematicians enjoy, then I believe we can inspire a whole new generation of mathematical talent.

What do I mean by "creative" maths? I mean the maths that surprises you, and makes you want to investigate further.

Here's a simple example. Imagine you're in the bathroom, looking at yourself in the mirror on the cabinet. You can see down to your navel. You step back from the mirror. Can you now see (a) less of yourself (b) the same amount or (c) more of yourself? You've spent many hours in front of a mirror, so this shouldn't be difficult to answer.

Is your answer (c), that you can see more of yourself as you step back? That's what most people say. It's the wrong answer. The correct answer is in fact (b), that you can see the same amount of yourself as you step back from the mirror.

You probably don't believe me – in which case, you are welcome to go and check your nearest mirror right now. So long as the mirror is vertical and the floor is horizontal, then the answer is right. You didn't need maths to have a go at the question, but you do need maths to prove why the answer is right.

This sort of "counter-intuitive" result is the sort of maths that can engage everyone. And there's plenty more where that came from.

What's the chance that, in a group of 50 people, there are at least two individuals who share a birthday? Your intuition will probably say it's unlikely. After all, there are 365 days in a year.

The mathematical truth, however, is that it is almost certain that there will be two people in the group that share a birthday.

In fact, you only need 23 people (that's two football teams plus
a referee) to have a 50-50 chance of two of them having the same birthday. If you don't believe me, just check the birthdays of those on the pitch in a few Premier League matches next week.

There's equally surprising maths to be found in the most unlikely places – in road atlases, in limericks, even in a drawer
full of socks.

This kind of maths arouses curiosity, and it is surely the path to increasing the nation's interest. If you are the sort of person for whom the word maths usually induces a reaction of horror, nausea or downright fear, maybe now is the time to give this much maligned subject a second chance – for your own sake, and for your children too.

How Many Socks Make A Pair? Surprisingly Interesting Everyday Maths is published by JR Books, price £12.99. To order a copy from the Yorkshire Post Bookshop, call free on 0800 0153232 or go online at www.yorkshire postbookshop. co.uk. Postage and packing is £2.75.


Rob Eastaway is author of How Many Socks Make A Pair? Surprisingly Interesting Everyday Maths,