Articles

Mathematics and democracy: Approving a presidentMuch criticism has been levelled at the US voting system, and with this being election year, we're bound to hear more of it. In this article Steven J. Brams proposes an alternative voting system that could help make things more democratic.
Editorial

Election issues

Digital artComputer-generated art is on the rise, and with it comes a further blurring of the boundaries between maths and art. Lewis Dartnell looks at some stunning examples.
The fabulous positional systemAccording to one mathematician, god created the whole numbers, with everything else being the work of humanity. Why, then did god not equip us with a good way of writing them down? Chris Hollings reveals that our number system, much used but rarely praised, is in fact a work of genius and took millennia to evolve.
Universal picturesPeter Markowich is a mathematician who likes to take pictures. At first his two interests seemed completely separate to him, but then he realised that behind every picture there is a mathematical story to tell. Plus went to see him to find out more, and ended up with a pictorial introduction to partial differential equations.
Maths, madness and moviesIn the movies mathematicians are mostly mad. Since here at Plus we firmly believe in our sanity, we're puzzled as to why. So we charged Charlotte Mulcare with the unenviable task of sifting through five well-known maths movies and speculate towards an answer.
It's all cricket's faultAustralian cricket to blame for oil price rise?
Cantor and Cohen: Infinite investigators part IWhat's the nature of infinity? Are all infinities the same? And what happens if you've got infinitely many infinities? In this article Richard Elwes explores how these questions brought triumph to one man and ruin to another, ventures to the limits of mathematics and finds that, with infinity, you're spoilt for choice.
Cantor and Cohen: Infinite investigators part IIRichard Elwes continues his investigation into Cantor and Cohen's work. He investigates the continuum hypothesis, the question that caused Cantor so much grief.
Alan Turing: ahead of his timeAlan Turing is the father of computer science and contributed significantly to the WW2 effort, but his life came to a tragic end. Stefan Kopieczek explores his story.
A glimpse of Cantor's paradisePeter Macgregor explores the beautiful world of the infinite.
Outer space: Venn you can't use VennWhen the famous diagram fails