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

Festival for Women and Girls in Science (Feb 2025)

 

Every February 11th, we celebrate International Day for Women and Girls in Science, promoting full and equal access and participation of women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields.

 

As we did last year, Mathateca again teamed up with Christchurch City Libraries and joined The University of Canterbury, Science Alive!, Canterbury Museum, The Seed Pod, and Forest and Bird Youth to be part of The Festival of Women and Girls in Science: an inspiring day of hands-on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) pitched at young scientists aged 5-15 and their whānau.

 

The dark blue festival logo, featuring a drawing of a woman examining a conical flask. She is surrounded by other sciencey images, including a galaxy, DNA, an X-ray of a hand, bacteria, atoms and fossils. Next to the logo is the text "Join Mathateca at the Festival of Women and Girls in Science: Mathematical 3D Printing Exhibit." and a photo of a 3D printer and some printed items including a knot, a sierpinski pyramid and a 3D graph of circular diffraction.

 

Between 10am – 3pm on Saturday February 15th 2025, the TSB Space at Tūranga, Christchurch's Central Library, filled up with hundreds of visitors taking the opportunity to chat to women working in STEM and to explore all sorts of interactive exhibits, from a planetarium dome to stalls featuring everything from volcanology, fossils, seeds, internal organs, insects, marine life and of course mathematics.

 

Mathateca trustees Rata and Amy were behind our Mathematical 3D printing exhibit, showing off mind bending mathematical objects made using the 3D printers in the Creative Space at Tūranga. One of the printers was also on display, hard at work making Sierpiński pyramids and proving a great conversation starter about the concept of dimensions (fractal or otherwise).

 

Amy stands behind the mathematical 3D printing displayRata stands next to a 3D printer

 

Our demonstration manipulatives included solids of constant width (appropriately rolled around under the book How Round is your Circle? by John Bryant), a geared counting mechanism, a Möbius strip with a movable arrow, and a sphere designed by Henry Segerman of www.3dprintmath.com for showing stereographic projection, in turn leading on to some excellent conversations about a 3D printed projection of the four dimensional dodecaplex.

A square grid created by the shadow of a specially-designed sphere, demonstrating stereographic projection.

We also had a selection of puzzles to play with, which in many cases stole the show. Assembly and packing puzzles like the Soma Cube and Shipper's dilemma prompted many declarations of "I'm not leaving till I solve it!" – especially awesome to hear from one student who'd introduced themself by saying maths was their least favourite subject in school.

A closeup of some of the 3D printed items on the table, with two pairs of hands playing with a geared counter mechanism.

A big part of days like this one for us is about showcasing a side of maths that not everyone has had a chance to encounter – highlighting the power of spotting and generalising patterns; the counterintuitive behaviour of weird topologies (and the surprising places their analogues crop up); the fun of exploring the question "what happens when I try this...?" – showing that maths is a creative and playful framework that allows us to understand the world in new ways.

 

Thanks again to everyone who stopped by our stall, we had a blast and we hope you did too!

 

For more information about the festival, check out the website: https://www.festivalofwomenandgirlsinscience.co.nz