Maths Support Programme Wales
Historically Welsh mathematicians, like many UK scientists, have tended to be white and male. In future this is likely to be very different! To see a diverse selection of top mathematicians, see our Careers in Mathematics videos.
Robert Recorde 1512(?)-1558
Born in Tenby, the inventor of the equals sign (=) and author of books on mathematics for ordinary people: an inspired teacher
William Jones 1674-1749
Born in Llanfihangel Tre’r-beirdd, Anglesey: mathematician who introduced the symbol π to represent the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. A close colleague of Isaac Newton.
By permission of Paul Frame
Richard Price 1723-1791
Born in Llangeinor (Cwm Garw, near Bridgend): philosopher, preacher, radical and mathematician, who established the Bayes-Price equation as the basis of the mathematics of insurance.
By permission of Paul Frame
William Morgan 1750-1833
Born in Bridgend: a doctor and mathematician who established work as an actuary as a profession.
Griffith Davies 1788-1855
Born in Y Groeslon, Arfon: mathematician and actuary, highly respected for his charity and benevolence.
George Hartley Bryan 1864-1928
Born in Cambridge, his career was spent at Bangor University: an outstanding mathematician who published Stability in Aviation in 1913, the basis of the science of flight.
Bertrand Russell 1872-1970
Born in the village of Trellech, Monmouthshire: philosopher, logician, mathematician and campaigner for peace: he sought to establish arithmetic on a firm logical base.
Lancelot Thomas Hogben 1895-1975
Born in Southsea, Hampshire, and adopted by the village of Glyn Ceiriog: an experimental zoologist and medical statistician who popularised mathematics and science.
Evan James Williams 1903-1945
Born in the village of Cwmsychbant, Ceredigion: a physicist who used mathematics to analyse the atom.
Donald Watts Davies 1924-2000
Born in Treorchy, Rhondda: a computer scientist who pioneered the method of packet-switching to transfer data; the godfather of the modern internet.
Mary Wynne Warner 1932-1998
Born in Carmarthen: a mathematician who ‘made precise the property of imprecision’, shattering the gender glass ceiling.
John Frankland Rigby 1933-2014
Born near Manchester, his career was spent at Cardiff University: a remarkable geometer and educationist.