Colin Wright, however, is a different matter.

And yesterday he demonstrated to north-east schoolchildren how juggling and maths tumble together.

His lecture, Juggling: Theory and Practice, might have given the impression of a display of juggling skills, but it actually covered many levels of maths and science, how they work, what they mean and why they are important

Dr Wright is one of the creators of Site swap, a form of notation which allows juggling patterns to be written out in a similar way to music, allowing jugglers around the world to share each other's techniques, and jugglers of the future to copy classic patterns.

By juggling three balls and explaining the Site swap notation he explains not just mathematical formulae but also time travel and the speed of light.

"Mathematics is everywhere if you know where to look for it - how traffic flows, people move about, buildings stand up.

"If I can save one child from a life in accountancy and turn them to do maths or science instead, then I've won."

The event, organised by science and maths charity Set point Scotland North as the Christmas lecture for the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications, was attended by about 175 pupils and teachers.

Dr Wright will be performing at Robert Gordon University again today for some of the north-east's top young mathematicians, to mark the halfway stage of their Royal Institution Mathematics Masterclass series, also organised by Set point Scotland North.