The mathemagician

Monash University lecturer Dr Burkard Polster is passionate about teaching maths, using all kinds of unconventional techniques to inspire that same enthusiasm in his students.

Dr Burkard Polster keeps a toilet plunger in his office to demonstrate pinpointing the location of mathematical planes in space.

The prop sits at the foot of a bookshelf crammed with toys, puzzles, origami animals and juggling balls in the researcher, author and The Age columnist's Clayton office.

Each colourful article on the shelf has made an appearance within a Monash lecture theatre as a powerful learning tool.

A veteran of 20 years teaching complex mathematics at university level, Dr Polster has found the best way to make a point is to make it memorable.

"I use toys, gimmicks, movie clips, anything to put the hook out so that the students will remember what I'm trying to pass on to them," he said. "If they remember the plunger they will remember the maths."

That philosophy has led Dr Polster, a semi-professional juggler, to fill his lectures with magic tricks, juggling acts, clips from Hollywood movies and soap bubble sculptures.

His goal is to pass on his own appreciation of the beauty and power of mathematics, while offering students the added incentive of being able to impress their friends at parties.

"One of the key things I always try to keep in mind before I go into a lecture is that if I can't deliver at least one point that people will remember pretty much forever, then the lecture was wasted." he said.

"That has got to be true for every lecture that you give.

"Using the gimmicks and tricks is a matter of trying to capture the moment, but this is a pretty way of doing it and when people see it in front of them it's a real "a-ha!" moment and they see the beauty of maths."

Dr Polster has marvelled at maths for as long as he can remember and sees it in every facet of life.

"You can look at anything, and when you strip away the non-essential bits, what is left is some beautiful mathematics," he said.

"Like looking at a diamond in a jewellery store and seeing all the facets and symmetries.

"Or juggling where you have these three balls and you've got to fit them together and it only works this way or that. It's basically the same sort of thing that makes things beautiful in mathematics."

He has shared his passion for the everyday occurrences of maths through books such as The Shoelace Book -- A Mathematical Guide To The Best And Worst Ways To Tie Your Shoes and newspaper columns dedicated to the mathematics of the everyday -- looking at applications of maths to the AFL finals system and the Melways guide.

However, Dr Polster admitted his first attempts to pass on this passion for maths did not go as well as he had hoped.

Daunted by the anticipation of teaching 300 students in a crowded lecture theatre, he said he "overdid it" and lost sight of his goal.

"I had all the formulas -- and I mean all the formulas -- written down on transparencies, and then of course I put them on upside down, or half of them didn't show up and I spent all my time just trying to keep the thread of what I was trying to talk about," he said.

"I was bored, and the students were bored.

"But now it is fun, I can relax. Preparing for each lecture is an open-ended exploration.

"I have been doing this forever (teaching maths) and I think it is just about the greatest thing you can do."