Sarah Hudson is doing a BSc degree in Maths with European Studies at the University of Sussex, where we spoke to her this summer as she came to the end of her first year. It's a 4 year course and she will spend the third year in Germany. She did her A-Levels (Maths, German and Combined Science) at Cheam High School, London.
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.
In this issue's article "Mathematics, marriage and finding somewhere to eat", David Smith 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...
This letter appeared in The Independent and is reprinted with their kind permission.
Sir:
So, Peter Todd has told the British Psychological Society that the best strategy for finding a life partner is to examine a dozen, and then make a choice from those who come along later (report, 5 April).
This article appeared in The Independent, Saturday 5 April 1997 and is reprinted with their kind permission.
Your eyes meet across a crowded room and suddenly you know there is no one else for you. You have never felt this way before.
I have had several views on what infinity times 0 is and I would like to know your view and how you came to your answer. Please send your answer as soon as possible.
Oliver Swift
Infinity is not a number and so it cannot be multiplied by zero. This is because multiplication is an operation for combining two numbers to produce a third.
-----------
Following publication of The Dearing Report a colloquium was held in London to discuss its implications for information technology. Steve Lay writes a report on the main outcomes of the meeting.
At the end of July, only days after the publication of the Dearing report the Computers in Teaching Initiative held a conference to examine the implications for information technology in higher education (HE). Inevitably there are implications for the schools sector too.
This year's A-level results were rightly hailed as a great success, showing overall increases in numbers taking the exams and a small increase in the proportion of candidates gaining a pass (grades A-E).
In an encouraging statement by the Joint Forum of the GCE Examinations Boards students were congratulated on their success and the Boards confirmed their commitment to maintaining the highest standards.
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.
