Mathematics
How America’s First Adding Machine is Connected to ‘Naked Lunch’
William Seward Burroughs (no, not that one) was the first man to invent a commercially practical calculator
The Romance of Fermat's Last Theorem
Fermat left a lot of theorems lying around. Mathematicians proved them all–except one
Napoleon's Lifelong Interest in Science
Napoleon was a Frenchman of his time, which means he was interested in how science could do good–he just took it farther than most
Is One A Number? According to ‘Mathematicks Made Easie,' Yes
The ancient Greeks, and people for almost 2,000 years after them, argued over whether one was a number
Big Data (and You) Could Help Find 1,500 Undiscovered Minerals
Researchers are using new tools to predict where to find new minerals as well as to locate new sources of valuable resources like copper
America Has Been Struggling With the Metric System For More Than 200 Years
The United States is the one of the world's only holdouts at this point, but it could have been the first country outside of France to adopt the system
Remembering the Brilliant Maryam Mirzakhani, the Only Woman to Win a Fields Medal
The Stanford professor investigated the mathematics of curved surfaces, writing many groundbreaking papers
WWII Enigma Machine Found at Flea Market Sells for $51,000
The legendary coding machine was first unearthed by a mathematician with a careful eye who purchased it for roughly $114
The Unheralded Contributions of Klara Dan von Neumann
Despite having no formal mathematical training, she was a key figure in creating the computer that would later launch modern weather prediction
Three Very Modern Uses For A Nineteenth-Century Text Generator
Andrey Markov was trying to understand poems with math when he created a whole new field of probability studies
The Witch of Agnesi
A mistranslation led to the unusual name of this mathematical concept
Pricey Graphing Calculators Could Be Headed for Extinction
Major testing companies are adopting embedded web calculators instead of freestanding devices
MIT Mathematician Develops an Algorithm to Help Treat Diabetes
The key to managing the disease, which afflicts 29 million people in the U.S., might be in big data
Mathematician Emmy Noether Should Be Your Hero
She revolutionized mathematics, and then was forgotten because she was a woman
One Writer Used Statistics to Reveal the Secrets of What Makes Great Writing
In his new book, data journalist Ben Blatt takes a by-the-numbers look at literary classics and finds some fascinating patterns
Getting Married on Pi Day is a Thing
Unfortunately, there are indications that couples who get married on special dates might not have the same chance of succeeding
How Humans Invented Numbers—And How Numbers Reshaped Our World
Anthropologist Caleb Everett explores the subject in his new book, <em>Numbers and the Making Of Us</em>
The 17th-Century Lady Astronomer Who Took Measure of the Stars
Astronomer Maria Cunitz might not be such an anomaly, were other women given the same educational opportunities
How Astrophysicists Found a Black Hole Where No One Else Could
A new method could help scientists peer inside universe's densest star clusters to find undiscovered black holes
How Fluid Dynamics Can Help You Navigate Crowds
If you plan to be in a seething mass of humans at some point—whether it’s an inauguration or protest thereof—here's how to keep yourself safe
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