Articles

  • article
    carrot

    This is not a carrot: Paraconsistent mathematics

    Paraconsistent mathematics is a type of mathematics in which contradictions may be true. In such a system it is perfectly possible for a statement A and its negation not A to both be true. How can this be, and be coherent? What does it all mean?
  • article
    hourglass with clock behind

    What is time?

    Everyone knows what time is. We can practically feel it ticking away, marching on in the same direction with horrifying regularity. Time has enslaved the Western world and become our most precious commodity. Turn it over to the physicists however, and it begins to morph, twist and even crumble away. So what is time exactly?
  • article

    Time and the multiverse

    Why can we remember the past and not the future? Why does time appear to move in only one direction when the laws of physics have no preferred direction in time? According to one physicist, it might be because we live in a bubble multiverse.
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    The crystallising Universe

    According to Einstein, the past, present and future have exactly the same character - so why do we feel that there is a particular moment we call "now"? The physicist George Ellis looks for an answer in the curious laws of quantum mechanics.
  • article

    The only way is up: constructing the Heron Tower

    Looking out to Canary Wharf, to the arch at Wembley Stadium, and down onto the Gherkin, the 700 people working on the construction site of the Heron Tower in London had one of the best views in London. Plus was lucky enough to speak to two engineers involved in building the tower and asked how maths was involved in the construction of such an impressive addition to the London skyline.
  • article
    velodrome

    How the velodrome found its form

    The Velodrome, with its striking curved shape, was the first venue to be completed in the London Olympic Park. Plus talks to structural engineers Andrew Weir and Pete Winslow from Expedition Engineering, who were part of the design team for the Velodrome, about how mathematics helped create its iconic shape.
  • article

    The revelation game

    Is it rational to believe in a god? The most famous rational argument in favour of belief was made by Blaise Pascal, but what happens if we apply modern game theory to the question?
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    icon

    No limits for Usain

    Usain Bolt, the "fastest man on the planet", aims to get his 100 metre world record of 9.58 seconds down to 9.40 seconds. What has mathematics got to say about this quest?

  • news
    multicoloured eye

    The Maths Inside the 2011 Summer Science Exhibition

    Plus has teamed up with the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition 2011 to reveal the maths behind some of the science on show. The Maths Inside project is run by the Mathematics Promotion Unit (a collaboration between the London Mathematical Society and the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications) in conjunction with Plus and the Royal Society.

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  • article

    Colouring by numbers

    How does a computer understand the colours to be displayed on the monitor's screen? It's all about red, green and blue and numbers written in a special way.
  • article

    The philosophy of applied mathematics

    We all take for granted that mathematics can be used to describe the world, but when you think about it this fact is rather stunning. This article explores what the applicability of maths says about the various branches of mathematical philosophy.