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March 2010
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In issue 29 of Plus, we heard how a simple mathematical equation became the subject of a debate in the UK parliament. Chris Budd and Chris Sangwin continue the story of the mighty quadratic equation.

Tags: bernoulli equation : navier-stokes equations : gravity : ellipse : chaos : differential equation : public understanding of mathematics : quadratic equation : circle : parabola : hyperbola : acceleration : stopping time : galileo : Newton : pendulum : Euler : complex number : logistic map : copernicus : kepler


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It isn't often that a mathematical equation makes the national press, far less popular radio, or most astonishingly of all, is the subject of a debate in the UK parliament. However, as Chris Budd and Chris Sangwin tell us, in 2003 the good old quadratic equation, which we all learned about in school, reached these dizzy pinnacles of fame.

Tags: ellipse : pythagoras' theorem : golden ratio : public understanding of mathematics : quadratic equation : Fibonacci : Babylonian mathematics : Newton-Raphson method : completing the square : circle : parabola : hyperbola