List by Author: Rachel Thomas

Folding fractions

Folding a piece of paper in half might be easy, but what about into thirds, fifths, or thirteenths? Here is a simple and exact way for fold any fraction, all thanks to the maths of triangles.

Who's looking at you?

Observers are, of course, vital in physics: we test our theories by comparing them to our observations. But in cosmology, as Jim Hartle explains, we could be one of many possible observers in the Universe and knowing which one we are is vital in testing our theories.

Steady on, Einstein

To celebrate the release of more English translations of Einstein's papers, we revisit one of his previously unknown models of the Universe.

From dust to us

Where planets are born is not necessarily where they will stay…

The Fibonacci sequence: A brief introduction

Anything involving bunny rabbits has to be good.

Writing the unwritable: up-arrow notation

How to write down unimaginably large numbers using just a few symbols.

In the beginning…

Bob Wald tells us why probabilities are important in cosmology.

Trisecting an angle with origami

How to solve an ancient problem in a few folds.

All's fair in love and mathsThe bitter battle for the cubic equation.
Meet the hyperbola

It might not be as familiar as the circle or parabola, but it's definitely worth getting to know the hyperbola!

Answers on a donut – the Fields medal lecture of Manjul Bhargava

We enjoyed Manjul Bhargava's Fields medal lecture so much we wanted to share it with you!