You might think that if you collected together a list of naturally-occurring numbers, then as many of them would start with a 1 as with any other digit, but you'd be quite wrong. Jon Walthoe explains why Benford's Law says otherwise, and why tax inspectors are taking an interest.
See the letter from James McGivern, an A-Level student, and our Editor's reply in the Staffroom section.
Congratulations for producing one of the most interesting and "user friendly" maths publications I've ever seen !!
Marcelo, Israel
Dear Sir,
From September 1999 onwards, PASS Maths is joining forces with its sister site NRICH to offer many more puzzles changed regularly on the 1st of every month.
Almost everyone reading this article has no doubt encountered pictures from the Mandelbrot Set. Their appeal is not limited to the mathematician, and their breathtaking beauty has found its way onto posters, T-shirts and computers everywhere. Yet what is a fractal?
