IN MY EXPERIENCE…
Johnny Ball
The presenter, 86 – who helped popularise maths in the 70s and 80s – on meeting his wife Dianne and why he’s proud of his three children, including Zoe Ball
by COLE MORETON
You’re best known for presenting funny and engaging shows about numbers like
Think of a Number
, but how did you get into maths?
I played games with my mum and dad. You did that in the days before television. I was playing with double-nine dominoes before I could really hold them, when I was five or six. Then Dad got me a billiards table. Snooker is a mathematical game, it’s all angles. Soon I was playing against grown men for money – and usually winning.
What was the best advice from your parents?
Dad was raised during the Depression and had no education as such, but he loved maths and encyclopedias. Before I did national service with the RAF, he took my hand and said: ‘Always do what’s right.’ That statement said everything.