Article
From clicks to chords
How is frequency related to pitch? Hear the music we love emerge from pure mathematical beats.
Content about “ frequency
”
Article
Why are sunsets red?
The answer comes from the physics of waves.
Article
What makes an object into a musical instrument?
Many things make a noise when you hit them, but not many are commonly used to play music — why is that? Jim Woodhouse looks at harmonic and not so harmonic frequencies and at how percussion instruments are tuned.
Article
Understanding uncertainty: What was the probability of Obama winning?
This may seem like an odd question — after all, he’s won — but it opens up some deep philosophical issues surrounding probability. David Spiegelhalter investigates how probability can be defined.
Article
Saving lives: the mathematics of tomography
Not so long ago, if you had a medical complaint, doctors had to open you up to see what it was. These days sophisticated imaging techniques save you the risk and pain of an operation. Chris Budd and Cathryn Mitchell look at the maths that is responsible for these medical techniques, and also for much of the digital revolution.
Article
The magical mathematics of music
According to Shakespeare, music is the food of love. But Jeffrey Rosenthal follows Galileo's observation that the entire universe is written in the language of mathematics - and that includes music.
Article
Radio controlled?
We take reliable radio communications for granted, but accommodating many different users is not easy. Robert Leese explains how the mathematics of colouring graphs can help avoid interference on your mobile phone.
Article
Natural frequencies and music
In the first of two articles, David Henwood discusses the vibrations that can be harnessed by musical instrument makers.
Article
Decoding a war time diary
An account of how a prisoner of war's diary was recently decoded. Donald Hill wrote his diary in a numerical code, disguised as a set of mathematical tables, while in Hong Kong during and after the Japanese invasion of 1941.