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From the tobacco companies in the fifties to the arguments of the Brexit campaign, Economist and BBC Radio 4 Presenter Tim Harford takes us on a tour of truths, facts and the weapon that is doubt. Surely fact-checking websites and rational thinking are the best weapons to convince people of the truth? Or is in fact the truth simply not good enough. Do we have time or any inclination to hear it? Maybe we need to start with something simpler. Perhaps arousing people's curiosity might be just as important.

Watch Tim make his case in the latest of the successful Oxford Mathematics Public Lecture series.

All mathematical models require information to make their predictions; to get something out, you have to put something  in. To predict how an earthquake propagates through the ground, you have to know the material properties of the subsurface rocks. To predict the weather at noon, you have to give the initial conditions at dawn. To predict the drag coefficient of an aircraft, you have to specify its shape.

In many cases, however, we are faced with the opposite problem: given information about the outcome of a physical process, how did it come about? Such a problem is called an inverse problem, in contrast to the forward problems given above, for it inverts the relationship between cause and effect encoded in the underlying equations. Find out more in the latest in our Oxford Mathematics Alphabet.

In our latest Public Lecture Tim Harford, Financial Times columnist and presenter of Radio 4's "More or Less", argues that politicians, businesses and even charities have been poisoning the value of statistics and data. Tim will argue that we need to defend the value of good data in public discourse, and will suggest how to lead the defence of statistical truth-telling.

For details and notification of the live podcast on 8 February at 4pm please click here.

In our latest Public Lecture Tim Harford, Financial Times columnist and presenter of Radio 4's "More or Less", argues that politicians, businesses and even charities have been poisoning the value of statistics and data. Tim will argue that we need to defend the value of good data in public discourse, and will suggest how to lead the defence of statistical truth-telling.

8 February, 4pm, Mathematical Institute, Oxford. Please email @email to register

UNFORTUNATELY THIS HAS BEEN CANCELLED. A NEW DATE WILL BE SET SOON.

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In recognition of a lifetime's contribution across the mathematical sciences, we are initiating a series of annual Public Lectures in honour of Roger Penrose. The first lecture will be given by his long-time collaborator and friend Stephen Hawking on 18th January at 5pm GMT. The lecture is sold out, but we will be podcasting live. 

Stephen Hawking is the former Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge and now the Dennis Stanton Avery and Sally Tsui Wong-Avery Director of Research at the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics and Founder of the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology at Cambridge.

Puzzling things happen in human perception when ambiguous or incomplete information is presented to the eyes. For example, illusions, or multistable figures occur when a single image can be perceived in several ways. 

In the Oxford Mathematics Christmas Public Lecture Ian Stewart demonstrates how these phenomena provide clues about the workings of the visual system, with reference to recent research which has modelled simplified, systematic methods by which the brain can make decisions.

Ian Stewart is Emeritus Professor of Mathematics in the University of Warwick.

In our final series of Oxford Mathematics History Posters we look at Oxford’s role in the development of Newtonian philosophy in the 18th Century. In particular we focus on Edmond Halley, the most famous English astronomer of his day and Savilian Professor of Geometry, and Thomas Hornsby, Sedleian Professor of Natural Philosophy and founder of the Radcliffe Observatory which appropriately now sits close to the new Mathematical Institute.

Oxford Mathematics and Imperial College have joined forces to co-pilot a new programme aimed at levelling the playing-field for bright young mathematicians.

The two universities use the Maths Admission Test (MAT) as the basis for undergraduate assessment. It’s meant to be fair to all, particularly as it is not based on the Further Maths syllabus which many schools do not offer. But is it? How can it take in to account all the other factors that determine a candidate’s preparedness for such a potentially daunting challenge?

The Problem Solving MATters programme is designed to prepare students from less advantaged backgrounds for achieving success in the MAT. It comprises three face-to-face study days, focussing on specific problem-solving skills, with a short practice exam in the final session; three summer assignments to further develop thinking skills and technique; and five online follow-up sessions, designed to consolidate new skills in the run up to the MAT itself. Crucially, participants are supported by student mentors who offer feedback throughout the process.

The course has been made possible by the generosity of Oxford Mathematics Alumnus Tony Hill.

“My aim”, says Tony, "is that the programme will continue and be rolled out to other Russell Group Universities, so we can get the best people into Maths departments, not just the best-prepared. This programme gives young people from less advantaged backgrounds an opportunity to see what Imperial and Oxford are actually like. As well as being taught by experts and mentored by undergraduates, they have a chance to look around, see people like them from all over the country and to visualise themselves in such a place."

Tony himself grew up on a council estate and was the first from his family to go to university. He understands the issues and he's passionate about helping talented young people overcome common stumbling blocks, in particular "those kids from lower socio-economic backgrounds or whose families don't value education; those whose school isn't very good generally or at teaching Maths, or where they have the attitude of kids from round here don't go to that type of university...Compare that to a kid coming from a good school that's strong in maths and with a strong tradition of getting their students into good universities. In one sense it's equal and in another, it's not."

If you would like to know more about the courses for 2017 please email @email.

Thanks to Jean Bywater at Imperial College for researching and writing the original article.

Oxford Mathematician Maria Bruna has won the Women of the Future Science award. The Women of the Future Awards, founded by Pinky Lilani in 2006, were conceived to provide a platform for the pipeline of female talent in the UK. Now in their 11th year they recognise the inspirational young female stars of today and tomorrow. They are open to women aged 35 or under and celebrate talent across categories including business, culture, media, technology and more.

Maria's work focuses on partial differential equations, stochastic simulation algorithms and the application of these techniques to the modelling of biological and ecological systems. 

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but what about symmetry? In our final feature on mathematicians let loose in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford Mathematician Balázs Szendrői investigates the beauty of symmetry in the Museum's Islamic art works. As he explains, no matter what the tile pattern may look like, its underlying symmetry configuration belongs to a small set of possibilities. 

If you are interested in the Random Walks series have a look at the previous films.