galileo

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

All of science can be regarded as motivated by the search for rules behind the randomness of nature, and attempts to make prediction in the presence of uncertainty. Chris Budd describes the search for pattern and order in chaos.

Tags: Newtonian mechanics : butterfly effect : prediction : galileo : pendulum : weather forecasting : planetary motion : Lorenz : period : Laplace : double pendulum : town planning

What's the risk of climate change or passive smoking? Why do penguins rotate their eggs? What makes mathematicians reach out for god? And how did we evolve the maths behind these questions? Find some answers in this political, psychological, philosophical and physical issue of Plus, and do some real sums with our interactive checker board.

Tags: women in mathematics : bernoulli equation : history of mathematics : astronomy : noether's theorem : computer programming : computer science : calculus : bernoulli : st. petersburg paradox : group theory : galileo : Newton : copernicus : kepler : leibniz : bernoulli number : plus birthday : Kepler's three laws of planetary motion