In my secondary school, one of the maths teachers had a sign in his window saying "Maths is Fun". Of course, we often mocked this on a regular basis; we were adolescents and therefore knew everything, so poured endless scorn on the claims of teachers with the worldly cynicism of 14-year-olds. But what a ridiculous concept! Maths is fun? What next, blood is yellow? Trees are aggressive? Carpet burns are relaxing? Some of my classmates even put up a sign in the classroom opposite which said "History is Funner". I'm 95% sure this was a deliberate joke, not a damning indictment of the school's educational standards. I never did maths A-level. My friends who did found it difficult but rewarding (I think they probably tried to tell me but I zoned out because it was a conversation about maths and therefore boring). But I did do p...