Mathematics
What Is Benford’s Law? Why This Unexpected Pattern of Numbers Is Everywhere
A curious mathematical phenomenon called Benford’s law governs the numbers all around us
Mathematics43 articles archived since 1845
Mathematics
Why the ‘Sleeping Beauty Problem’ Is Keeping Mathematicians Awake
A thought experiment that’s dividing mathematicians can help illuminate how belief shapes rational decisions
Mathematics
Information Theory Finds the Best Wordle Starting Words
Information theory can help people mathematically calculate the best starting guess for a popular online game
Mathematics
2 High School Students Prove Pythagorean Theorem. Here’s What That Means
At an American Mathematical Society meeting, high school students presented a proof of the Pythagorean theorem that used trigonometry—an approach that some once considered impossible...
Mathematics
Newfound Mathematical ‘Einstein’ Shape Creates a Never-Repeating Pattern
A new shape called an einstein has taken the math world by storm. The craggy, hat-shaped tile can cover an infinite plane with patterns that never repeat.
Mathematics
A Number System Invented by Inuit Schoolchildren Will Make Its Silicon Valley Debut
Math is called the “universal language,” but a unique dialect is being reborn
Mathematics
How Mathematics Can Predict—and Help Prevent—the Next Pandemic
Mathematician Abba Gumel uses calculations and models to prepare for future disease outbreaks
Mathematics
Top Math Prize Awarded for Describing the Dynamics of the Flow of Rivers and the Melting of Ice
Argentine mathematician Luis Caffarelli has won the 2023 Abel Prize for making natural phenomena more understandable and eliminating dreaded “infinities” from a calculation
Mathematics
Mathematician Wins Abel Prize for ‘Smooth’ Physics
Luis Caffarelli’s work includes equations underpinning physical phenomena, such as melting ice and flowing liquids
Mathematics
The World’s Simplest Theorem Shows That 8,000 People Globally Have the Same Number of Hairs on Their Head
Hairiness is the perfect way to demonstrate the math underlying the “pigeonhole principle,” first conceived in 1622
Mathematics
If the Mathematical Constant Pi Was a Song, What Would It Sound Like?
Every year on Pi Day, we have a reason to celebrate one of math’s most famous symbols. But this year we speak to someone who has captured it in song.
Cognition
Babies Are Born with an Innate Number Sense
Plato was right: newborns do math
Mathematics
The Most Boring Number in the World Is ...
That prime numbers and powers of 2 fascinate many people comes as no surprise. In fact, all numbers split into two camps: interesting and boring
Mathematics
6 Marvelous Math Stories from 2022
Math made a splash this year. Here’s a look at the fascinating discoveries, mind-bending quests and important events in mathematics in 2022
Mathematics
How Many Yottabytes in a Quettabyte? Extreme Numbers Get New Names
Prolific generation of data drove the need for prefixes that denote 1027 and 1030
Mathematics
Why 2 Is the Best Number and Other Secrets from a MacArthur-Winning Mathematician
Mathematician Melanie Matchett Wood seeks creative ways of solving open math problems
Mathematics
Mathematician Who Solved Prime Number Riddle Claims New Breakthrough
After shocking the mathematics community with a major result in 2013, Yitang Zhang now says he has solved an analogue of the celebrated Riemann hypothesis
Mathematics
Geometry Reveals the Tricks behind Gerrymandering
Some voting districts are tilted intentionally toward one party or another—a factor in the midterms. Geometry plays a critical role in gerrymandering
Mathematics
Ramsey Theory Extracts Order from Chaos when Sorting through Confusing Arrangements of Numbers
Mathematician Frank Ramsey showed how to discover coherent patterns among a multitude of number groupings
Mathematics
Citizens’ Assemblies Are Upgrading Democracy: Fair Algorithms Are Part of the Program
Math helps to randomly select the fairest citizens’ assemblies since antiquity
