List by Author: Rachel Thomas

The maths behind combining R ratios

In a previous article we introduced the problems that can arise when combine the reproduction ratios of a disease in different settings, such as hospitals and the community. In this article we dive into the maths that helps you get to the bottom of these problems.

The problem with combining R ratios

We explore why you need to be extremely careful when combining the reproduction ratios of a disease in different settings, such as hospitals and the community.

A call to action on COVID-19

An urgent call has gone out to the scientific modelling community to help fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Two Cambridge mathematicians are helping to lead the charge.

Phenomenal physics

What is a particle phenomenologist?

Ramanujan: Dream of the possible

A hundred years ago Ramanujan was elected FRS. Here is a look at the maths that gained him the title.

The Fields Medal 2018: Peter Scholze

Peter Scholze has received the Fields medal 2018 for transforming arithmetic algebraic geometry.

What can we see?

Physics is all about observation. But how much can we actually see with the naked eye?

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.

What can science see?

Observing the smallest building blocks of matter doesn't involve seeing in the ordinary sense.

Heisenberg's uncertainty principle

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

A very useful pandemic

Cambridge researchers, the BBC, and thousands of citizen scientists have created a revolutionary infectious disease data set.

Stephen Hawking: Memories of a colleague

Cambridge mathematicians and physicists remember their most famous colleague with fondness.