PUPILS, parents and the Wellington School community have been treated to an exciting lecture by Professor Alan Champneys of Bristol University.

Alan is Professor of Applied Non-linear Mathematics at the university, where he has been a lecturer since 1993.

The lecture, entitled Rock, Rattle & Slide; Why Mathematics is Important to Engineering, held the audience captivated for over an hour. Sixth-form Mathematics students and scholars were introduced to the Two-ball Bounce Problem, one of Professor Champneys’ latest papers, one of more than 200 he has seen published during his career.

This was the 26th Passmore Memorial lecture. The memorial lecture was set up by the parents of Old Wellingtonian and keen mathematician Tom Passmore, who died shortly after leaving Wellington School.