Articles

Mathematical mysteries: How unilluminating!

In the 1950's, Ernst Straus asked a seemingly simple problem. Imagine a dark room with lots of turns and side-passages, where all the walls are covered in mirrors - just like the Hall of Mirrors in an old-fashioned fun-fair. Is it true that if someone lights a match somewhere in the room, then wherever you stand in the rest of the room (even down a side-passage) you can see a reflection of the match?

Editorial
  • Darkened skies
  • Interesting times
Mathematical Mysteries: Trisecting the Angle

Bisecting a given angle using only a pair of compasses and a straight edge is easy. But trisecting it - dividing it into three equal angles - is in most cases impossible. Why?

Editorial

New Year, New Team

Mathematical mysteries: the three body problem

On June 25th 1998 the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory known as SOHO, a small spacecraft that monitors the sun, went missing. An error in the instructions given to it from ground control left it spinning out of control. However, there is a glimmer of hope.

Editorial
  • Roll-over malevolence
  • Time to change
  • Understanding science