copernicus

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

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

In the last issue Lewis Dartnell explained how chaos on the brain is not only unavoidable but also beneficial. Now he tells us why the same is true for our solar system and sends us on a journey that has been travelled by comets and spacecraft.

Tags: space exploration : gravity : chaos : astronomy : dynamical system : calculus : physics : Newton : Euler : copernicus : 3-Body Problem : analysis : lagrange point : Manifold : centripetal force : Lagrange : Poincare : Interplanetary Superhighway