Articles

Making a right angle the Maya way

The Mayan civilisation brought forth many great things — including this clever way of making a right angle.

Too big to write but not too big for Graham

Meet the number that's bigger than the observable Universe!

Numbers, toys and music: A conversation with Manjul Bhargava

The Fields medallist reveals the beauty of numbers, how he drew inspiration from Sanskrit maths and a Rubik's cube, and how his maths fits with his tabla playing.

John Milnor: A conversation with a mathematical legend

Why doing maths is like being Lewis Carroll's Red Queen and how to keep going beyond the formidable age of 84.

Answers on a donut – the Fields medal lecture of Manjul Bhargava

We enjoyed Manjul Bhargava's Fields medal lecture so much we wanted to share it with you!

The art of guessing

How to avoid tedious calculations.

Did chaos cause mayhem in Jurassic Park?

Was T-rex unleashed by mathematical chaos?

Maths in a minute: Watch your units!

How to lose a spacecraft in the most embarrassing way possible.

What is information?

Books, brains, computers — information comes in many guises. But what exactly is information?

Kissing the curve

Curves bring great beauty to our world. But how curvy is a curve?

Problems of gravity

Why (some) physicists want to modify Einstein's general theory of relativity.