harmonics

What makes an object into a musical instrument?

Many things make a noise when you hit them, but not many are commonly used to play music — why is that? Jim Woodhouse looks at harmonic and not so harmonic frequencies and at how percussion instruments are tuned.

Maths in a minute

Want facts and want them fast? Our Maths in a minute series explores key mathematical concepts in just a few words.

The maths of randomness

Randomness is surprisingly hard to define. Fortunately the mathematical language we use to describe it is beautifully well defined.
Arithmetic billiards

Need to find the least common multiple or greatest common divisor of two numbers? A billiard table of the right proportions holds the answers!
The real numbers and Cauchy sequences

We take the real numbers for granted, but what are they really?
Clocking the schedule

The way many football leagues schedule their fixtures can lead to unfair effects — and unsolved maths problems!
The two envelopes problem solved

Here's a resolution for one of probability theory's most famous paradoxes.

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