David Darling & Agnijo Banerjee

David was born in Glossop, Derbyshire and has a PhD in astronomy from the University of Manchester. For the past 35 years he has been a freelance science writer and is the author of nearly 50 books on subjects such as cosmology, physics, philosophy, and mathematics. He also tutors students in maths and physics and this how he first met Agnijo at the age of 13.

Agnijo was born in Kolkata and returns to India every year with his family to visit friends and relatives. He grew up and went to school in Scotland. His mathematical talents were recognised at an early age. He took Higher Maths in his first year of secondary school, scoring 99%, the following year passed the Mensa test scoring the maximum possible IQ for the test of 162, and his third year scored 100% in Advanced Higher Maths. More recently has been taken part in international maths competitions, such as the Balkan Mathematics Olympiad in May 2018, as part of the 6-member British team. Later this year, Agnijo starts his maths degree at Trinity College, Cambridge, where so many great mathematicians of the past have studied and taught, including Srinivasa Ramanujan. Agnijo has a particular interest in areas of maths that developed in India, most notably number theory.