Articles

  • article

    Designing loudspeakers

    In his second article, David Henwood explains the role of mathematics in the design of Hi-Fi loudspeakers.
  • article

    Natural frequencies and music

    In the first of two articles, David Henwood discusses the vibrations that can be harnessed by musical instrument makers.
  • article

    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.
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    Editorial

    • The Dearing report
    • Network capacity problem
    • References
  • article

    Mathematical mysteries: Kepler's conjecture

    Sir Walter Raleigh is perhaps best known for laying down his cloak in the mud for Queen Elizabeth I. But, he also started a mathematical quest which to this day remains unsolved.

  • article

    Dynamic programming: an introduction

    The previous feature, "Mathematics, marriage and finding somewhere to eat" investigated the problem of finding the best potential partner from a fixed number of potential partners using a technique known as "optimal stopping". Inevitably, mathematicians and mathematical psychologists have constructed other models of the problem...
  • article

    Decoding a war time diary

    An account of how a prisoner of war's diary was recently decoded. Donald Hill wrote his diary in a numerical code, disguised as a set of mathematical tables, while in Hong Kong during and after the Japanese invasion of 1941.
  • article

    Coding theory: the first 50 years

    Space probes, like NASA's recent Pathfinder mission to Mars, have radio transmitters of only a few watts, but have to transmit pictures and scientific data across hundreds of millions of miles without the information being completely swamped by noise. Read about how coding theory helps.
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    Editorial

    • Allergic to mathematics?
    • The inner beauty of pure mathematics
    • A journey with mathematics
    • Staff room