adrian smith
Maths and politics clearly do mix, with a House of Commons debate inspiring another article in our series especially aimed at schoolteachers and students, and a new UK government report shaking up mathematics education. We also take a chance on the lottery, John Barrow turns agony aunt and we squeeze the most out of theoretical physics.
In this issue we illuminate logic, find out why everything's relative, take a journey on the interplanetary superhighway, and maybe even encounter extraterrestrial life.
What is maths? Is it an art form with every idea a work of perfect beauty? Is it a quest for truth that may one day deliver a Theory of Everything? Or is it a tool, essential in anything from fighting crime to calculating airline ticket prices? In this issue we show you that it's all of these, and that it can even produce its own media superstars.
The image on the left shows artist Carla Farsi's painting The birth of Hiroshima.
The National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics has been launched
