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Math MagiciansThe self-paced course
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Math MagiciansThe self-paced course

Meet the mathematics running quietly under everyday decisions.

Four parts, 26 chapters and a wrap-up, about 12 hours, at your own pace.Probability, statistics and how to spot a lie, exponential growth, game theory and strategy, cryptography, and what data can and cannot decide.Every claim and figure checked against its source.

Start free: the welcome and chapter 1Open the courseMembers of Learnacy Essential open every chapter.
Included in Learnacy Essential₹1,499 for the year, including GST. One payment, no automatic renewal.
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1LearnEach chapter opens with a question from everyday life, tells a story, and gives you something to try: a simulator, a sorter, a puzzle.
2CheckEvery chapter ends with five questions. Pass with 4 right, as often as you need, and each answer comes with its reason.
3FinishPass every chapter check and the final round for a certificate of completion with a link anyone can use to verify it.

What the course covers

  1. Part 1 · Chance: the mathematics of probability

    1. Before you begin · freeWelcome: the maths you already useDo you use mathematics outside the classroom?About 10 minutes
    2. Chapter 1 · freeWhat are the chances?Why does a 7 come up more often than a 12?About 25 minutes
    3. Chapter 2Counting the waysHow many outfits can you make from a few clothes?About 25 minutes
    4. Chapter 3Coincidences are not that rareIn a class of thirty, would two people share a birthday?About 25 minutes
    5. Chapter 4The long run, and the gambler's mistakeAfter five heads in a row, is tails due?About 25 minutes
    6. Chapter 5Expected value: is it worth it?Why does the stall at the fair always make money?About 25 minutes
    7. Chapter 6When a test says yesIf a test that catches 99 of 100 cases says yes, are you probably ill?About 25 minutes
    8. Chapter 7Risk in real lifeIf something doubles your risk, should you worry?About 25 minutes

  2. Part 2 · Statistics, and how to spot a lie

    1. Chapter 8Mean, median and the tea stallCan everyone at a tea stall get richer without earning a rupee more?About 25 minutes
    2. Chapter 9Spread: what an average hidesTwo classes have the same average mark. Are they the same?About 25 minutes
    3. Chapter 10Asking a few to learn about manyCan asking a thousand people tell you what a billion think?About 25 minutes
    4. Chapter 11Correlation is not causationDoes eating ice cream make people drown?About 25 minutes
    5. Chapter 12Fair testsHow would you prove that something really works?About 25 minutes
    6. Chapter 13Charts that shoutCan a chart lie without a single false number?About 25 minutes
    7. Chapter 14Per cent, points and paradoxesIf a rate goes from 4% to 6%, has it risen by 2% or by 50%?About 25 minutes

  3. Part 3 · Growth and strategy

    1. Chapter 15Doubling: the grains on the chessboardWhat happens if you keep doubling?About 25 minutes
    2. Chapter 16Compound growth and the rule of 70How long does it take something growing at 7% a year to double?About 25 minutes
    3. Chapter 17How things spreadWhy do illnesses, rumours and trends spread slowly, then suddenly?About 25 minutes
    4. Chapter 18Thinking ahead: games and strategyHow do you choose well when the result depends on someone else's choice?About 25 minutes
    5. Chapter 19The prisoner's dilemmaCan two sensible people both choose well and both end up worse off?About 25 minutes
    6. Chapter 20Playing again: trust and the commonsWhy do people cooperate, if betraying pays?About 25 minutes
    7. Chapter 21The maths that decides who winsCan the same votes choose three different winners?About 25 minutes

  4. Part 4 · Secrets, data and your question

    1. Chapter 22Secret messages, from Caesar to todayHow do you send a message only one person can read?About 25 minutes
    2. Chapter 23The primes that guard the internetHow can you send a secret to a stranger you have never met?About 25 minutes
    3. Chapter 24Strong passwords, by the numbersWhat makes a password strong: length, symbols or something else?About 25 minutes
    4. Chapter 25Everything is a numberHow does a computer store a photo, a song or a word?About 25 minutes
    5. Chapter 26When data decidesCan a computer be unfair if it only follows the data?About 25 minutes
    6. The wrap-upYour question, and what nextSo, coming back: do you use mathematics outside the classroom?About 30 minutes
Your certificate

A certificate of completion, issued when you pass every chapter check and the final round while logged in. It names the course and its length, about 12 hours. It is not a grade, an examination result or an accreditation.

This course is for learning. Every game of chance in it uses made-up points, never money. It names no company or app to praise or blame, and takes no side in party politics.