Britain remains one of the few advanced nations where it is socially acceptable, fashionable even, to profess an inability to cope with mathematics. This can’t-do attitude to numeracy, cited most recently by Sir Peter Williams, who is leading a government-backed review of maths in primary schools, goes to the heart of our problem with maths.

It means that fewer children are having that “eureka” moment when they realise the pleasure and satisfaction of getting to grips with geometry, algebra or long division.

And it feeds into a vicious circle of not enough talented maths graduates going into teaching to inspire the next generation.

The popularity of puzzles such as Su Doku, introduced to Britain by The Times, shows that there is an appetite for number games and puzzles among all ages and backgrounds. But the perception persists, borne out by research published last month by London Metropolitan University, that mathematicians are old, white, middle-class men lacking social skills.

Given these narrow, negative clichés, it is hardly surprising that relatively few young people want to continue with the subject or that standards are slipping.

Times Recommends

• Everyone will get vaccine against swine flu
• Artificial sperm and the race to build a baby
• BBC jets out stars to tout for prizes