Articles

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What can we see?

Physics is all about observation. But how much can we actually see with the naked eye?
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What can we agree to look for?

The limits to what we can observe are not only a matter of science, but also of politics and economics.
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What can science see?

Observing the smallest building blocks of matter doesn't involve seeing in the ordinary sense.
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Maths in a minute: Truth tables

Introducing an indispensable tool of mathematical logic.
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Something from nothing?

If you can prove that a statement can't possibly be false, does this mean it's true?
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Heisenberg's uncertainty principle

There are limits to how much you can simultaneously squeeze the quantum fuzziness of an electron's position and momentum
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The real numbers and Cauchy sequences

We take the real numbers for granted, but what are they really?
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Citizen science: Schumann resonances

Resonant electromagnetic waves, created by lightning flashes, circle the Earth. Wim Hordijk explores the maths and shows how you can keep track with these phenomena.
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Maths in a minute: Chomp

A game involving biscuits and maths — what could be better?
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Maths in a minute: The axioms of probability theory

Take a quick trip to the foundations of probability theory.
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Arithmetic billiards

Need to find the least common multiple or greatest common divisor of two numbers? A billiard table of the right proportions holds the answers!
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The maths of randomness

Randomness is surprisingly hard to define. Fortunately the mathematical language we use to describe it is beautifully well defined.