Articles

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    Safety in numbers

    Today's digital world with its free flow of information, would not exist without cryptography to guarantee our privacy. Plus meets mathematician, author and broadcaster Simon Singh to find out about the science of secrecy.
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    Tying it all up

    Theoretical physicists are searching for a 'Theory of Everything' to reconcile quantum mechanics and relativity - the two great physical theories of the twentieth century. String theory is a current hot favourite, and some of the world's most eminent physicists tell us why.
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    Games, Life and the Game of Life

    When we finally meet the Martians, John Conway believes they are going to want to talk mathematics. He talks to Plus about his Life game, artificial life and what we will have in common with extraterrestrials.

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    On the ball

    If your team scores first in a football match, how likely is it to win? And when is it worth committing a professional foul? John Haigh shows us how to use probability to answer these and other questions, and explains the implications for the rules of the game.
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    Mathematical mysteries: The Barber's Paradox

    Suppose you walk past a barber's shop one day, and see a sign that says "Do you shave yourself? If not, come in and I'll shave you! I shave anyone who does not shave himself, and noone else." This seems fair enough, and fairly simple, until, a little later, the following question occurs to you - does the barber shave himself?
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    Going with the flow

    Fluid mechanics is the study of flows in both liquids and gases, and is therefore enormously important in understanding many natural phenomena, as well as in industrial applications. Geophysicist Herbert Huppert tells us what happens when two fluids of different densities meet, for example when volcanos erupt and hot ash-laden air is poured out into the atmosphere.
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    Why Was The Computer Invented When It Was?

    Clearly the modern electronic computer couldn't have been built before electronics existed, but it's not clear why computers powered by steam or clockwork weren't invented earlier. Tom Körner speculates on the historical reasons why computers were invented when they were.
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    Catching waves with Kip Thorne

    What happens when one black hole meets another? Professor Kip Thorne shows us how to eavesdrop on these cosmic events by watching for telltale gravitational waves.
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    Natural born mathematicians

    Neuropsychologist Brian Butterworth tells us about research showing that even newborn babies have a basic understanding of number. It seems we are all mathematicians!
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    Maths in the dock

    Chemists John Watling and Allen Thomas talk to Plus about the vital role of maths in presenting criminal evidence.
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    An infinite series of surprises

    Infinite series occupy a central and important place in mathematics. C. J. Sangwin shows us how eighteenth-century mathematician Leonhard Euler solved one of the foremost infinite series problems of his day.

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    Mathematical mysteries: Strange Geometries

    The famous mathematician Euclid is credited with being the first person to axiomatise the geometry of the world we live in - that is, to describe the geometric rules which govern it. Based on these axioms, he proved theorems - some of the earliest uses of proof in the history of mathematics.