About us

The love of maths pure maths guide was created by John Waterman as a culmination of a long and fulfilling career as a secondary school maths teacher, government mathematician and Oxbridge tutor. 

John Waterman was an Oxford University graduate with over 35 years of mathematics teaching and Oxbridge entrance tutoring. Over his career he finely tuned his methods to engage students transitioning from GCSE maths to A level and developed an informal style of teaching that reaped excellent results time and time again.

John Waterman MA (Oxon), MSc, PGCE

The love of maths pure maths guide was 10 years in the making, completed by John before he died in June 2019 as a lasting legacy of his passion for the subject which had threaded throughout his life and career. 

Sometimes a theorem can just be so elegant. It can draw together. It can take a problem which seems to be intractable, almost impossible to get your head around. And yet, within a few lines, you can discover that you can demonstrate that this is absolutely true and beyond dispute, and always will be. A sense of power and beauty in that which can’t be replicated anywhere else.

John Waterman, May 2019

The love of maths pure maths guide is offered by Love of Maths Ltd which is managed by John’s family. It was John’s wish that his book be made available to as many people as possible, in a format that is affordable and easy to access. He also wanted the profits from sales of his work to go to educational charities.

John was passionate about the value of education for all and his family carry this value forward in his memory.    

Podcast series

John Waterman: How did the love of maths pure maths guide come about?

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John Waterman: Did you find maths easy at school? What was your approach to study?

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John Waterman: How is the love of maths pure maths guide structured and how is it intended to be used?

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John Waterman: What is it about maths that you find so fascinating?

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