Articles

Universal picturesPeter Markowich is a mathematician who likes to take pictures. At first his two interests seemed completely separate to him, but then he realised that behind every picture there is a mathematical story to tell. Plus went to see him to find out more, and ended up with a pictorial introduction to partial differential equations.
Outer space: Pretty mean pricesHow to keep inflation down
Maths, madness and moviesIn the movies mathematicians are mostly mad. Since here at Plus we firmly believe in our sanity, we're puzzled as to why. So we charged Charlotte Mulcare with the unenviable task of sifting through five well-known maths movies and speculate towards an answer.
cricket ball
It's all cricket's faultAustralian cricket to blame for oil price rise?
Cantor and Cohen: Infinite investigators part IWhat's the nature of infinity? Are all infinities the same? And what happens if you've got infinitely many infinities? In this article Richard Elwes explores how these questions brought triumph to one man and ruin to another, ventures to the limits of mathematics and finds that, with infinity, you're spoilt for choice.
Cantor and Cohen: Infinite investigators part IIRichard Elwes continues his investigation into Cantor and Cohen's work. He investigates the continuum hypothesis, the question that caused Cantor so much grief.
Andrew Wiles
Fermat's last theorem and Andrew WilesNeil Pieprzak tells the fascinating story of Andrew Wiles who, with intense devotion and in secret, proved a deceptively simple-looking conjecture that had defeated mathematicians for almost 400 years.
If we all go for the blondeJosé-Manuel Rey revisits a scene of the film A beautiful Mind.
Maths on a planePhil Trinh discovers how maths helps solve the mysteries of flight and love.
Understanding uncertainty: The maths of surprises

You meet an old friend on holiday, you find your colleague shares your birthday, you win the lottery. Exactly how rare are these rare events? David Spiegelhalter investigates in his regular column on uncertainty and risk.
Editorial
  • I need maths like a carburettor recalibration

  • The 118 188 challenge
The amazing librarianJosefina Alvarez describes the workings of the most famous search engine of them all. You'll need some linear algebra for this one, but it's worth the while!