Now in its second year of publication, the monthly magazine, My Maths, is finding its place and attracting a faithful readership. While aimed principally at students attending higher secondary school and first-year undergraduates, the magazine has much wider appeal thanks to its range of articles on the history and philosophy of math and features on the world's great mathematicians.

The magazine's lively and well-presented range of subjects keeps even the mathematically challenged interested. While mathematics and science-related subjects dominate most covers, literary images and interesting personalities are also regularly featured.

The April 2005 issue, for example, reprinted a mural painting showing a scene from the "Three Worlds", written some 650 years ago during the Sukothai period. Inside, there was an article about mathematical problems with the numerical descriptions of the three worlds posed to readers.

Another cover featured Napoleon Bonaparte and told the story of his brilliance as a math student and how he became known in some circles for his mathematical innovations as much as for his military genius.

The monthly usually publishes mathematical problems and puzzles from different sources and from as far afield as Japan, India and Russia, along with short articles, notes and other features about mathematics in the classroom and beyond.

There are regular reports on the Math Olympics with an explanation of how Thai schools organise a network to help screen and train the country's candidates. It also gives feedback on Math Olympiads and occasionally prints contributions from Olympic medal students. These youngsters share not only math problems and how to solve them but also their personal views on teaching methods and competitions in Thailand and in other countries that they have visited.

As competency in English is also indispensable when entering international competitions, the magazine's regular column on mathematical English is highly commendable.

Another innovative feature is a regular column on how ordinary folk work out problems in daily life, such as finding the area of irregular shapes, without resorting to complex math formulas.

In the "Siammath" section the magazine tries to raise consciousness and probe into how mathematics is evolving among Thais.

Equations, diagrams and pictures are clear and presented in full colour, which makes them easier to visualise. Most of the annotated diagrams have a shaded background that lifts them from the page. Students looking for more challenging brainteasers will be able to stretch the minds here.

In the features section, My Maths generally emphasises issues, concerns and lessons within and between the disciplines of mathematics in the classroom. But that's not to say it shies away from discussing other mathematical disciplines and there are often some interesting articles on computer science.

The magazine's step-by-step style of writing as well as the easy-to-understand language makes it a delightful read.

Technical terms are of course unavoidable but the magazine is jargon-free and meant to reach a broad spectrum of students. Its editorial is simple, unpretentious and straight to the point.

Recent issues have featured a series of interviews with individuals contributing to mathematics education nation-wide and the training of potential candidates for international mathematics and science and technology competitions. These people highlight some aspects that are holding up the educational process and suggest ways of moving on. These include better problem solving and improving the attitude towards both the teaching and learning of the subject.

Most contributors are either university lecturers or secondary school math teachers. Regular columnists include Dr Suthat Yoksan, a member of the Royal Academy. The magazine also welcomes original contributions from students and professionals.

However, since the publication has to deal with a lot of equations and formulas, misprints are hard to avoid.

Still the two editors are quick to respond to letters and in printing corrections.

The magazine has its own website, http://mymathsmag.pantown.com, and the editors can be reached at mymatshmag@yahoo.com.