21/10/2026
What connects a confused bee, a 12th-century Indian mathematician and Hannah Fry winning a major mathematics prize in 2026? 🐝
Back in 1150, Indian mathematician Bhāskara II wrote Līlāvatī, a remarkable Sanskrit work that explored arithmetic, fractions and geometry through poetry and playful mathematical puzzles.
One of those puzzles involved a swarm of bees, three flowers and one particularly indecisive bee!
Even the name Līlāvatī evokes playfulness and charm. Nearly 900 years later, that spirit lives on in the Leelavati Prize, awarded by the International Mathematical Union for outstanding contributions to making mathematics accessible to the public.
The prize, sponsored by Indian technology company Infosys since 2014, went to British mathematician and science communicator Hannah Fry in 2026.
Through her books, television programmes and videos, Fry has brought complex mathematical ideas to millions of people, showing that mathematics is much more than equations in a textbook.
From ancient Indian mathematical poetry to modern science communication, the idea remains remarkably similar: make people curious, and mathematics becomes an adventure.
And there's an intriguing legend involving Bhāskara's daughter, a pearl and a water clock, although its historical accuracy remains uncertain.
Did you solve the 900-year-old bee puzzle before the answer appeared? 🐝
I'd love to know how many of you worked it out without a calculator!
