archive

Is math still relevant?

Anca Croitoru (UAIC): The Informal Side of Mathematics. In a top-secret program, talented, young female mathematicians calculated the artillery and bomb trajectories that American GIs used to win World War II. A review of Math for Life: Crucial Ideas You Didn't Learn in School by Jeffrey Bennett. David McConnell recoiled from maths as a child, but came to love its beauty — as did prisoners in one of America’s toughest jails. A review of Taking Sudoku Seriously: The Math behind the World's Most Popular Pencil Puzzle by Jason Rosenhouse and Laura Taalman. An “irregular mind” is what has won this year’s Abel Prize, one of the most prestigious awards in mathematics, for Endre Szemeredi. A straightforward problem in mathematics remains unsolved, even with a $1 million prize for whoever solves it. The introduction to Circles Disturbed: The Interplay of Mathematics and Narrative. Is math still relevant? The queen of the sciences may someday lose its royal status. The Aperiodical is a new maths magazine/blog aimed at people interested in mathematics who want to read stuff. Here are 20 things you didn't know about math.