My Top 10 Most Interesting Things I Have Learned As An Academic

Well, an academic, of course, my advice for the New Year is to learn something new. And, not just learn it from a superficial point-of-view, go and dive into something and really learn it in depth. Why? Because it will make you feel better and (on average) will help you live a longer and more fulfilling life. It will change you and (hopefully) take away the stresses of modern life. In fact, the best way to avoid getting dementia is to continually learn and keep your mind active.

And I know I sound like a soap salesperson who is trying to sell you the benefits of bathing, but I passionately believe in the power of education. So, here are my Top 10 things I learnt about in my academic career. I have put them in order of how interesting and fulfilling they have been for my teaching and for me.

No 1: The Diffie-Hellman method

I have taught cryptography for over a decade, and it was the Diffie-Hellman method that hooked me. How could something that is so simple be so powerful? Once I saw its magic, I was completely switched on to the power of discrete logarithms and how they could protect our online world.