Coming up...

Watch this space for info about our next events and displays.

 

If you have an idea for something mathsy you'd love to see or collab with us for, let us know! 

You can read what sorts of things we've got up to previously below.

Mathateca Logic Puzzle Workshops
Exercise Your Brain with Logic Puzzles!

 

Join us on Level 4 at Tūranga, Christchurch's Central Library on the last Sunday of every month from 3:00pm - 4:30pm for our free logic puzzle workshops delivered by New Zealand's top puzzle solver, James McGowan.

 

Whether you're new to logic puzzles or looking to sharpen your skills, come along to train your brain and have a good time!  

Join Mathateca at the Festival of Women and Girls in Science banner

Join us at Tūranga from 10am-3pm Saturday 15th February for an inspiring and hands-on STEM festival perfect for scientists aged 5-15 and their whānau.

 

Mathateca will be running our 3D printing exhibition, delivered in collaboration with Christchurch City Libraries.

Mathateca Logic Puzzle Workshops
Tabletop Tūranga - a free boardgame festival for Canterbury

 

Join friends old and new for a weekend of tabletop gaming at Christchurch's Central Library. All welcome, from seasoned gamers to those who are brand new to the hobby. Mathateca will be running the maths of Hex activity on Saturday 7th and the maths of Mancala on Sunday 8th, with round robin tournaments in the afternoons both days to test your skills.

🗓️ Saturday 7th - Sunday 8th June, 2025
📍Tūranga, 60 Cathedral Square

Pi Day: Calculating Pi From Scratch

Calling one-and-all to attempt to calculate as many digits of pi as we can, using nothing but paper and pencil.

Can we beat Matt Parker's 2024 attempt?

On Saturday March 15 2025, number enthusiasts in Christchurch are gathering in the Rātā Building, rooms 222/223, University of Canterbury to try to calculate as many digits of pi as we can by hand. 

If you can do long division (or are willing to learn) then you have the required skills to participate. Come along, and bring your friends!

The event runs between noon - 5pm; turn up anytime.

There will be a short presentation at 1:30pm about pi.

 

Mathateca is proud to support this valiant calculation effort for the 2025 International Day of Mathematics.

Past events

 

Calculating Pi By Hand (Pi Day 2025)

 

On the 14th and 15th of March 2025, we celebrated the mathematical constant pi by attempting to calculate as many of its decimal digits as possible using only pencil and paper. March 14 is celebrated as the International Day of Mathematics a.k.a Pi Day, because 3.14 are the first 3 digits of Archimedes’ pi.

 

Similar to previous events (2024-09-29 and 2024-08-17), this was a joint event with the University of Canterbury’s maths society (MathSoc), and was hosted at the university. The event was pitched at adult volunteers who want to contribute to a common mathematical goal. We also enjoyed a collection of pie-related baked goods which were distributed for all to eat.

 

The mastermind of this event was Mathateca board member Ross Atkins, who designed the method of distributing the pi calculation in such a way that many people can be calculating simultaneously. The method is also never-ending, in the sense that it can be continued at future events (without the need to start again) and the digits of π will continue to be produced.

 

Overall the event was a monumental success with 22 volunteers contributing to a total of 60* digits of pi.

 

Read the full report including an explanation of the calculation performed from Ross [PDF].

 

A crowd of smiling pi day volunteers stand in front of their calculated digits of pi written on a whiteboard.

 


*Though the first 60 digits were calculated, owing to an error in addition two of them were incorrect.