Leslie Lamport explains how an understanding of special relativity helped him realise how to order events in computer science, and enabled the development of distributed computing.

My view of the events taking place on my computer is very different to how a computer scientist, a engineer or a physicist would view what is happening inside the box. Leslie Lamport explains how the definition of an event distinguishes between these areas of research.

Our digital lives rely on distributed computer systems, such as the network of banks that allow us to deposit cash in one place and withdraw it in another. But understanding the order of events in such systems is not always straightforward.

To join in the excitement of the world athletics championships, we bring you some articles, a puzzle, and a little something on infectious diseases.

What shape of cone maximises the ice cream to wafer ratio?

The Institute is celebrating 25 years of bringing researchers together!

The brilliant mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani has died, aged just 40.

Fill those gaps between matches, and the tennis vacuum that will ensue after Wimbledon, with some tennis maths!

The probability distribution that measures success and failure.

The practice of overbooking has made uncomfortable headlines lately. But how do airlines decide how many tickets to sell for a flight? Here's the maths.