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Careers with maths
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Barry Phipps tells Plus how he bridges the gap between the arts and sciences as an exhibition curator.

A favourite from the archive...
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Get the maths of this famous fractal

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June 2008
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convergence

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One of the most striking and powerful means of presenting numbers is completely ignored in the mathematics that is taught in schools, and it rarely makes an appearance in university courses. Yet the continued fraction is one of the most revealing representations of many numbers, sometimes containing extraordinary patterns and symmetries. John D. Barrow explains.

Tags: chaos : convergence : Golden Ratio : probability distribution : continued fraction : rational approximation : Levy's constant : Khinchin's constant : gear


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The harmonic series is far less widely known than the arithmetic and geometric series. However, it is linked to a good deal of fascinating mathematics, some challenging Olympiad problems, several surprising applications, and even a famous unsolved problem. John Webb applies some divergent thinking, taking in the weather, traffic flow and card shuffling along the way.

Tags: logarithm : geometric series : convergence : arithmetic series : harmonic series : divergence


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The harmonic series is far less widely known than the arithmetic and geometric series. However, it is linked to a good deal of fascinating mathematics, some challenging Olympiad problems, several surprising applications, and even a famous unsolved problem. John Webb applies some divergent thinking, taking in the weather, traffic flow and card shuffling along the way.

Tags: logarithm : geometric series : convergence : arithmetic series : harmonic series : divergence


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Tags: geometric series : convergence : limit : Zeno's Paradoxes : Achilles Paradox : Arrow Paradox : worldline : relativity


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Infinite series occupy a central and important place in mathematics. C. J. Sangwin shows us how eighteenth-century mathematician Leonhard Euler solved one of the foremost infinite series problems of his day.

Tags: geometric series : convergence : harmonic series : divergence : infinite series : integral test : Euler's solution to the Basel problem : sine : power series