news
Communicating the coronavirus crisis
David Spiegelhalter, expert in risk and evidence communication, tells us how well the UK government has done so far communicating about Covid-19.
article
Maths in a minute: The Wells-Riley model
How do you calculate your risk of catching an airborne disease?
news
Playing the laying a pale egg game
Some birds, including sparrows and herring gulls, lay their eggs so that the last one to come out is a shade or two lighter than the others. You might suppose that laying eggs requires some effort and that the colour of the last egg is a sign of an exhausted mother. But this practice might be of evolutionary advantage.
career
Career interview: Project finance consultant
Nick Crawley had recently set up his own financial consultancy firm in Sydney, Australia, offering advice on large-scale financing deals. He tells Plus about the challenges and rewards of working in an incentive-driven environment.
article
A risky business: how to price derivatives
In the light of recent events, it may appear that attempting to model the behaviour of financial markets is an impossible task. However, there are mathematical models of financial processes that, when applied correctly, have proved remarkably effective. Angus Brown looks at one of these, a simple…
article
Understanding Uncertainty: Pure randomness in art
This article is based on a talk I gave at the recent John Cage exhibition in the Kettles Yard gallery in Cambridge. Cage is perhaps best known for his avant-garde music, particularly his silent 1952 composition 4′33″ but also for his use of randomness in aleatory music. But Cage also used randomness…
article
How to win at Mornington Crescent
This article casts a mathematical eye over a famous non-game enjoyed by thousands of people up and down the UK every week.
news
The maths inside
This year the Royal Society celebrates its 350th anniversary and Plus is joining in the celebrations. The annual Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition is this year part of a festival called See Further: The Festival of Science + Arts, which explores the links between science and the arts. The festival is taking place at the Southbank Centre in London from the 25th of June to the 4th of July 2010.