Articles

Pilgrims, planes and postage stampsPractical problems often have no exact mathematical solution, and we have to resort to using unusual techniques to solve them. From navigation in the 17th century to postage stamps, see how this principle applies to a variety of real-life problems - and also learn how to use a piece of string to locate a German bomber!
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.
EditorialTesting times
What computers can't doMike Yates looks at the life and work of wartime code-breaker Alan Turing. Find out what types of numbers we can't count and why there are limits on what can be achieved with Turing machines.
Light's identity crisisWhat is light? Sometimes it seems wave-like and sometimes particle like. See how Einstein applied his theory of relativity to the problem, predicted that photons have no mass and laid the foundations for quantum mechanics.
Quantum uncertaintyQuantum mechanics is the physics of the extremely small. With something so far outside our everyday experience it's not surprising to find mathematics at the heart of it all. But at the quantum scale nothing in life is certain... Peter Landshoff explains.
Mathematical mysteries: Goldbach revisited

Since we first wrote about the Goldbach Conjecture we've had many requests for more information about  it and about how our Goldbach calculator works. We answer some of your questions here but the Goldbach conjecture touches on a strange area of maths that may leave you even more curious than before...
Natural frequencies and musicIn the first of two articles, David Henwood discusses the vibrations that can be harnessed by musical instrument makers.
What a coincidence!Coincidences are familiar to us all but what are the so-called laws of chance? From coin tossing to freak weather events, Geoffrey Grimmett explains how probability is at the heart of it all.
Editorial
  • What's in a name?
  • Disaster
Mathematical mysteries: twin primes

We know there is infinitely many primes, but are there infinitely many twin primes?
Image analysis - a modern application of mathematicsNew technology has provided us with some amazing images - satellite images, medical images, even images beamed back from Mars. Julian Stander tells us about the increasing role of statistics in interpreting them.