Would you like to learn more about maths and data science?
Are you learning about maths and wondering how it is used in the world around you? Or are you wondering how school maths links up to cutting edge mathematical research?
Below we've highlighted some of our favourite stories that fall within the broad categories of maths taught at school. One thing you'll notice is that applications and research areas often cross boundaries between these topics and that even the topics themselves have slightly different meanings than they do at school. The connections between mathematical ideas become more important in these settings — you'll see examples of how ideas weave together in our content.
You can also find many more articles, podcasts and videos through our search. Or tell us what you would like to know in the form below!
Number
Numbers are one of the first things we learn in maths. Here are a few highlights from our archive about fascinating numbers, numbers in the real world, and number theory — an important area of maths research today.
A world of numbers
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What is the study of numbers good for? Look no further than our online lives which are kept safe by cryptography — and that is powered by prime numbers and number theory!
A brief introduction to cryptography
Ingenious maths keeps your credit card details safe when you shop online and underlies the security of the internet. Find out how in this easy introduction.
Safety in numbers
Find out about cryptography in more detail
A brief introduction to quantum cryptography
Ingenious maths keeps your credit card details safe when you shop online and underlies the security of the internet. Find out how in this easy introduction.
Frontiers of maths
Fermat's last theorem
This theorem looks deceptively simple but it took mathematicians over 350 years to prove it. Find out about the result and the people involved in cracking it.
The twin prime conjecture
This conjecture is one of the biggest open problems in maths. Find out what it says with the mathematician James Maynard.
Numbers, toys and music: A conversation with Manjul Bhargava
When it comes to cutting edge research, number theory, geometry and algebra link up! Find out more with the mathematician Manjul Bhargava.
Dynamic numbers
How do you get from looking at numbers to chaos theory? Find out with mathematician Holly Krieger.
Geometry and measure
Geometry is one of the oldest areas of maths and one of the first things we learn at school. Here's a selection of articles showing its beauty, how the geometry you learn at school is used in real life and how it drives mathematical research.
Proof by picture
The great thing about geometry is that you can draw pictures of what's going on. Here's a selection of visual proofs of results from geometry and beyond.
Proof by picture!
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Saving whales using Pythagoras
Find out how Pythagoras' theorem helps protect whales from being struck by ships.
Maths in a minute: The Sydney Opera House
Discover the maths behind this iconic building.
Bloodstain pattern analysis
Conic section hide and seek
See how the maths of ancient Greece is used to keep track of offenders and undertake search and rescue operations.
It's all in the detail
Explore how triangles star in movies and games.
Frontiers of maths
Geometry has lots of uses in real life, but it also drives research in pure maths. Here are some examples.
A tip of the hat: Celebrating an aperiodic monotile
Find out how amateur mathematician David Smith discovered a new geometric shape.
The Fields Medal 2018: Caucher Birkar
The work of mathematician Caucher Birkar, which won him one of the most prestigious prizes in maths, weaves together geometry and algebra.
Kissing the curve
Find out how thinking about curviness links geometry and algebra.
Ready for more of a deep dive? Then check out our articles on telescope topology and join us on a journey into the world of shapes.
Algebra
Loosely speaking, algebra means dealing with expressions that are made of symbols (usually letters) rather than concrete numbers. In mathematical research algebra means investigating abstract structures and it seeps into a whole range of other areas. Here are some of our favourite articles involving algebra.
Vectors and matrices
Finding your way home without knowing where you are
Find out how vectors can help us understand insects!
The amazing librarian
Ever wondered how Google works? Vectors and matrices are key! Josefina Alvarez describes the workings of the most famous search engine of them all.
Quadratics, cubics, and more…
Stubborn equations and the study of symmetry
Did you know that group theory originated in the study of equations? Find out more in this article.
All's fair in love and maths
The solution to the cubic equation was born from a bitter battle. Find out how here.
Group theory and the study of symmetry
Groups: The basics
A brief intro to groups and what they have to do with symmetry.
New perspectives in symmetry
A round up of some open questions in group theory that interest mathematical researchers.
Through the looking-glass
Find out how group theory is used in other sciences.
Handling data
The world is full of data. Understanding it is crucial to understanding our lives, and exploiting its power can lead to amazing new applications, such as artificial intelligence. Here are some favourite articles exploring the topic.
Finding your way through the data jungle
What are probability distributions?
Understand the concept and what it involves and follow through with examples.
Maths in a minute: Hypothesis testing
How statistics can help us make informed decisions.
Introducing Florence Nightingale
Meet a statistics pioneer who is better known as a nurse!
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It's a match!
Find out how statistics is used to catch criminals using DNA.
Evaluating a medical treatment: How do we know it works?
Find out about randomised controlled trials, the gold standard in testing medical treatments.
To learn about some of the pitfalls of using statistics read Damn lies, The prosecutor's fallacy, and The many ways of spinning risk.
Frontiers of research
Artificial intelligence: Your questions answered
AI uses data: lots of it! Find out the basics here.
See all our content on statistics
and on artificial intelligence
Contagious maths
How does maths help in tackling infectious diseases? Understanding how infectious diseases spread involves a lot of maths — to be precise it involves a lot of mathematical modelling. We found this out through our long-standing and fascinating collaboration with the disease modeller Julia Gog of the University of Cambridge.
In this series of very short video clips you can hear from Julia herself as she takes you from the simplest maths of disease modelling right up to what she and her colleagues are working on today. You can also have a go yourself with the lovely interactivities developed with our sister site NRICH.
Maths at Uni
Are you interested in studying maths at university? Then see some of our student profiles.
The STEP support programme
This free online programme helps university applicants prepare for STEP mathematics exams.
The Advanced Mathematics Support Programme
This programme aims to increase participation in Core Maths, AS/A level Mathematics and Further Mathematics.
The Mathscareers website
This website shows where maths can take you.
Chalkdust
Chalkdust is a magazine for the mathematically curious, founded by a group of university students.
Aperiodical
The Aperiodical is a meeting-place for people who know they like maths and would like to find out more.
What would you like to know?
This is just a selection of our content - we are always producing new articles and podcast in collaboration with researchers.
But if there is something you would like to find out more about and which you can't find on our site, then let us know by filling in the form below.
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