kepler

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

The geometry says that now is the right time for a mission to Mars.

Tags: NASA : ellipse : Mars : Newton : kepler : Kepler's three laws of planetary motion : orbit : European Space Agency : perihelion : aphelion

Why do so many people say they hate mathematics, asks David Acheson? The truth, he says, is that most of them have never been anywhere near it, and that mathematicians could do more to change this perception - perhaps by emphasising the element of surprise that so often accompanies mathematics at its best.

Tags: proof : Fermat's Last Theorem : ellipse : geometry : Pi : pendulum : kepler : mathematics and magic : leibniz : focal points : linked pendulums

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