Newton
In issue 29 of Plus, we heard how a simple
mathematical
equation became the subject of a debate in
the UK parliament. Chris Budd and Chris Sangwin
continue the story of the mighty quadratic equation.
Tags: bernoulli equation : navier-stokes equations : gravity : ellipse : chaos : differential equation : public understanding of mathematics : quadratic equation : circle : parabola : hyperbola : acceleration : stopping time : galileo : Newton : pendulum : Euler : complex number : logistic map : copernicus : kepler
The geometry says that now is the right time for a mission to Mars.
Tags: NASA : ellipse : Mars : Newton : kepler : Kepler's three laws of planetary motion : orbit : European Space Agency : perihelion : aphelion
Over the last few years the words string theory have nudged their way into public consciousness. It's a theory of everything in which everything's made of strings — or something like that. But why strings? What do they do? Where did the idea come from and why do we need such a theory? David Berman has an equation-free introduction for beginners.
Tags: gravity : physics : string theory : quantum mechanics : Newton's Principia : general relativity : Einstein : Newton : relativity : quantum uncertainty : quantum gravity
In the last issue Lewis Dartnell explained how chaos on the brain is not
only unavoidable but also beneficial. Now he tells us why the same is true for our solar system and sends us on a journey that has been travelled by comets and spacecraft.
Tags: space exploration : gravity : chaos : astronomy : dynamical system : calculus : physics : Newton : Euler : copernicus : 3-Body Problem : analysis : lagrange point : Manifold : centripetal force : Lagrange : Poincare : Interplanetary Superhighway
What's the risk of climate change or passive smoking?
Why do penguins rotate their eggs? What makes mathematicians reach out for god?
And how did we evolve the maths behind these questions?
Find some answers in this political, psychological, philosophical and physical issue of Plus, and do some real sums with our interactive checker board.
Tags: women in mathematics : bernoulli equation : history of mathematics : astronomy : noether's theorem : computer programming : computer science : calculus : bernoulli : st. petersburg paradox : group theory : galileo : Newton : copernicus : kepler : leibniz : bernoulli number : plus birthday : Kepler's three laws of planetary motion
And what are gravitational waves?
Tags: gravity : cosmology : astronomy : gravitational wave detector : black hole : general relativity : Einstein : Newton : special relativity : gravitational wave
