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Rupa Patel reflects to Plus on her work as a financial engineer

A favourite from the archive...
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When we finally meet the Martians, John Conway believes they are going to want to talk mathematics.

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March 2008
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number system

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The Inka way of counting

Tags: language : Inka : khipu : anthropology : archaeology : number system


This issue of Plus is largely a matter of chance. We find an almighty coincidence and try to model it, explore whether statistical media headlines illuminate or mislead, and try to get our head around league tables. On a more certain note, we examine string theory, which many people think explains everything, look back at one of the greatest mathematical works ever written, and try to pin down the number five.

Tags: geometry : algebra : Pythagoras' Theorem : Zeno's Paradoxes : Golden Ratio : Euclidean geometry : Euclid's elements : hyperbolic geometry : irrational number : plus birthday : number system : al-Khwarizmi