Articles

If you can't bend it, model it!Learn about the aerodynamics of footballs and perfect your free kick.
Outer space: Bridging that gapHow to keep up the suspense
Unveiling the Mandelbrot setYou've probably seen pictures of the famed Mandelbrot set and its mysterious cousins, the Julia sets. In this article Robert L. Devaney explores the maths behind these beauties and shows that they're loaded with mathematical meaning.
Defying gravity: The uphill rollerWhat goes up must come down — or does it? Find out how to cheat gravity with Julian Havil.
Music and Euclid's algorithmWhat does a mathematician from the 3rd century BC have to do with tuning musical instruments in 17th century Europe? Benjamin Wardhaugh tells us about one of the more unusual places you might find Euclid's algorithm being used.
Graphical methods III: the slugs bounce backIn the last article of this three-part series, Phil Wilson shows how simple graphs can tell you a lot about the economy — and not only in Slugworld.
The Fields Medals 2006The highest honour in maths has been awarded to four mathematicians
Troubled minds and perfect turbulenceVan Gogh paintings mimic the physics that governs turbulence
Editorial
  • Plus new writers award - Maths is the language of the universe, so what have you got to say?
  • Reader's corner - 6174 and other mysterious numbers.
  • World Cup maths - How Plus can help you with your football.
The power of groupsGroups are some of the most fundamental objects in maths. Take a system of interacting objects and strip it to the bone to see what makes it tick, and very often you're faced with a group. Colva Roney-Dougal takes us into their abstract world and puzzles over a game of Solitaire.
Gödel and the limits of logicWhen Kurt Gödel published his incompleteness theorem in 1931, the mathematical community was stunned: using maths he had proved that there are limits to what maths can prove. This put an end to the hope that all of maths could one day be unified in one elegant theory and had very real implications for computer science. John W Dawson describes Gödel's brilliant work and troubled life.