Article

Editorial

Careers in mathematics: A set of three posters from Plus
News story

When will they blow?

Can maths help save lives by making more accurate predictions of future volcanic eruptions?
News story

How not to catch a sunbeam

Has the precious cargo of the crashed Genesis mission survived to tell us about the origins of our solar system?
Article

Remembrance of numbers past

Memory is fundamental to the way we think, and we use it in almost every activity. But most of us cannot imagine approaching the level of world record holder Hiroyuki Goto, who memorised and recited 42,195 digits of pi! Rob Eastaway asks if mere mortals can learn anything useful from such incredible feats of memory, and gives some hints on how to remember numbers.
Article

Coincidence, correlation and chance

How much evidence would you need before buying into a get rich quick scheme? Do high ice cream sales cause shark attacks? And just how likely was it that you were ever born? Andrew Stickland finds out that, when it comes to probability, our instincts can lead us seriously astray.
Article
Neck of a violin

Why is the violin so hard to play?

As anyone starting out knows, the violin is a difficult instrument. It takes time before the novice player can expect to produce a musical note at the desired pitch, instead of a whistle, screech or graunch. Jim Woodhouse and Paul Galluzzo explain why.

Article

Editorial

  • The permanent revolution - The government's response to Adrian Smith's Inquiry into post 14 mathematics education
  • A-levels - Are the ever-improving results a sign of falling standards?