News story
The leaning tower of PISA?
This year's PISA results have caused predictable headlines, but do the statistics add up?
Article
Mathematical man Friday
Who knew that Robinson Crusoe contained a lost chapter about maths? Help us find the hidden mathematical references and win a prize!
Article
Struggling with chance
A 1 in 14 million chance to win the lottery, a 5% risk of cancer, a 50:50 chance of heads on a coin — we deal with probabilities all the time, but do they actually mean anything? We explore the philosophy of probability and ask whether the probabilities that come up in physics differ from those in every day life.
Collection
The 2013 Plus advent calendar
Is it cold outside? Yes! The fire warm? Yes! Snow on its way? Yes! Do we love Christmas? YES! Celebrate the countdown with the Plus advent calendar featuring our favourite bits of maths. Now, what's behind today's door...?
News story
From 70 million to just 600...
This year has seen a flurry of results as mathematicians hunt down the elusive proof of the twin prime conjecture. Will they get their wish for Christmas this year?
Article
Still struggling with chance
Are there objective chances in the world?
Article
Physical finance
The fact that a sizeable proportion of the financial workforce is
made up of physicists is one of the industry's best-kept secrets. We talk to Laura Tadrowski, who has made the leap from physics to finance.
Article
The life and numbers of Fibonacci
The Fibonacci sequence – 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, ... – is one of the most famous pieces of mathematics. We see how these numbers appear in multiplying rabbits and bees, in the turns of sea shells and sunflower seeds, and how it all stemmed from a simple example in one of the most important books in Western mathematics.
News story
The maths sense
You don't need to count to see that five apples are more than three oranges: you can tell just by looking. That's because you were born with a sense for number. But is that sense related to the mathematical abilities you develop later on?
Collection
Information about information
What is information and how does it shape our reality?
Article
3D printing mathematics
Saul Schleimer and Henry Segerman show off some of their beautiful 3D printed mathematical structures.
Podcast
Mathematical theatre with X&Y
Mathematics and theatre are both imagined things that need to be consistent. So what better way to explore mathematical ideas than through theatre? We talk to Marcus du Sautoy, Victoria Gould and Dermot Keany about their new show, X&Y.