Opinion
Have you anything to say that might be of interest to Plus readers? E-mail plus@maths.cam.ac.uk.
Have you anything to say that might be of interest to Plus readers? E-mail plus@maths.cam.ac.uk.
Knots crop up all over the place, from tying a shoelace to molecular structure, but they are also elegant mathematical objects. Colin Adams asks when is a molecule knot a molecule? and what happens if you try to build a knot out of sticks?
Have you anything to say on this or other subjects of interest to Plus readers? E-mail plus@maths.cam.ac.uk.
C. J. Budd and C. J. Sangwin show us how to create mazes, and explain why mazes and networks have much in common. In fact the study of mazes and labyrinths takes us into the dark territory of murder, suicide, adultery, passion, intrigue, religion and conquest...
Have you anything to say on this or other subjects of interest to Plus readers? E-mail plus@maths.cam.ac.uk.
Steven J. Brams uses the Cuban missile crisis to illustrate the Theory of Moves, which is not just an abstract mathematical model but one that mirrors the real-life choices, and underlying thinking, of flesh-and-blood decision makers.
This limiting process, where the slice is shrunk down to arbitrarily small thicknesses, really provokes some deeper questions!
Suppose you put \pounds 1 in a bank. The bank pays 4\% interest a year, and this is credited to your account at the end of a year. A little thought shows that at the end of five years an amount of money equal to \pounds
Suppose you put \pounds 1 in a bank. The bank pays 4\% interest a year, and this is credited to your account at the end of a year. A little thought shows that at the end of five years an amount of money equal to \pounds