Title |
Subject |
Author |
Synopsis |
The Mathematical Experience | Mathematical Philosophy | Davis and Hersh | Proof,Infinity,and the Stretched String.The coin of Tyche. The Aesthetic Component. Pattern,Order,and Chaos |
Think Maths | Mathematical Philosophy | Ian Stewart | Is mathematics the grand design for the Universe, or merely a figment of the human imagination? |
Crashing the Barriers | Mathematical Philosophy | Ian Stewart | Does it really matter if there are some things that science will never solve? |
Nature's Sums | Biomathematics | Simon Singh | If DNA is the building blocks of biology then maths maybe the builder. |
Maths of tossed coin | Chance | Robert Matthews | Equations say more than gravity is required to bring a tossed coin to a halt. |
Ethnic Bias in Hiring/Alien Abduction | Innumeracy | John Allen Paulos | Test disparities need not imply racism and mathematically making one's own pseudoscience. |
Maps that shaped the world | Cartography | Ian Mundell | Like a huge piece of orange peel that refuses to be flattened without tearing at the edges, the globe cannot be forced into two dimensions without distortion. But that distortion can now be minimised. |
Absolute Certainty? | Proof | Computers are transforming the way mathematicians discover,prove and communicate ideas,but is there a place for absolute certainty in this brave new world? | |
The Challenge of Large Numbers | Number Theory | Richard E. Crandall | As computer capabilities increase, mathematicians can better characterize and manipulate gargantuan figures. Even so, some numbers can only be imagined. |
Double Bubble,Toil and Trouble | Minimal Surfaces | Ian Stewart | Soap bubbles produce amazing colours and patterns.What is known about them,and what puzzles remain? |
Lunar M-pire | 4-Colour problem | Ian Stewart | What is the smallest number of colours required to colour a map? |
Tales of a neglected number | Number Theory | Ian Stewart | The Padovan Sequence is similar to Fibonacci. |
Knots,Links and Videotape | Knot Theory | Ian Stewart | The topology of knots in Non-Euclidean spaces. |
Glass Klein Bottles | Topology | Ian Stewart | The topology of Klein Bottles. |
The Topological Dressmaker | Topology | Ian Stewart | The topology of dress making. |
Finding the energy to solve a knotty problem | Knot Theory | Ian Stewart | For at least a century, mathematicians have tried to find effective ways to distinguish between different knots.One method is based on physical considerations about the energy of knots. |
A Bundling Fool beats the wrap | Minimal Surfaces | Ian Stewart | How to bundle,not bungle,tennis ball wrapping. |
Arithmetic and Old Lace | Knot Theory | Ian Stewart | How to tie your shoelaces properly. |
The Power of One | Number Theory | Robert Matthews | Everyday numbers obey a law so unexpected it is hard to believe it's true. Armed with this knowledge, it's easy to catch those who have been faking research results or cooking the books. |
Dice and Determinism | Probability | Ian Stewart | The maths of probability from "Does God Play Dice?". |
What is Randomness? | Probability | Ian Stewart | The maths of randomness and chaos from "Does God Play Dice?". |
Comeback for Mental Arithmetic | Education | Benedict Brogan | All pupils will get new maths tests at 11 and 14. |
Weighty Problem | Education | The Imperial versus Metric debate. | |
New Maths | Fractals | Jeffrey Johnson | Mathematicians helped to establish computer science, but it is now bringing revolution to their own subject. |
The Reality of Risk | Risk Analysis | Transcript | The social misunderstanding and misjudgement of risk leads to bad decision making. |
ENM 3 | Mathematical Philosophy | Roger Penrose | The Platonic reality of mathematics. |
ENM 10 | Geometry | Roger Penrose | Penrose Tilings and Quasi Crystals. |
Tourist 2 | Primes | Ivars Peterson | Prime Pursuits.Prime numbers used in cryptography. |
Tourist 4 | Topology | Ivars Peterson | Shadows from Higher Dimensions. |
Tourist 7 | Geometry | Ivars Peterson | The Fivefold Way. |
On Taking Another Look | Perception | Nicholas Humphrey | Optical Illusion. |
Symmetry:The Thread of Reality | Cosmology | Ian Stewart | How symmetry and symmetry breaking creates the natural world. |
Puzzling Passions | Enigmas | William Greaves | Marcel Berlins investigates puzzles,something he apparently knows nothing about. |
Euclid's 5th | Geometry | Isaac Asimov | Asimov explains why Euclid's 5th is not as simple as it seems at first sight. |
Odds and Evens | Chirality | Isaac Asimov | Asimov considers polarity. |
The Left Hand of the Electron | Chirality | Isaac Asimov | Asimov explains CPT and opposites. |
Unity within Diversity | Mathematical Philosophy | Davis and Hersh | Euler's formula. |
The Prime Number Theorem | Mathematics | Davis and Hersh | The Prime Number Theorem. |
4D Intuition | Mathematics | Davis and Hersh | A look at the hypercube. |
Comparative Aesthetics | Mathematics | Davis and Hersh | Aesthetics within mathematics. |
Station X | Ciphering | Geoff Ellis | The work at Bletchley Park on ENIGMA. |
Maths Fun | Maths Education | John Rees | The curriculum and finding fun in maths. |
Your Secret's Safe | Cryptography | Michael Brooks | The airwaves create an unbreakable code. |
Skills we can count on | Maths Education | Andy Coghlan | University students have problems with geometry. |
Numbers with Altitude | Review | Robert Matthews | John Casti's "Mathematical Mountaintops" reviewed. |
Fibonacci Forgeries | Maths | Ian Stewart | Number sequences,what number comes next? |
Relative Failure | Maths | Robert Matthews | Einstein's fudge factor. |
6 Degrees of Separation | Maths | Robert Matthews | The Small World Effect. |
Proof and Beauty | Maths | Ian Stewart | Is the elegant proof a lost art? |
Gambling-A Global Fascination | Maths | Awake! | For once I agree with Jehovah's Witnesses - Gambling is a problem. |
On a Roll | Maths | Dana McKenzie | Understand randomness and you could win a Nobel Prize. |
Numbered among the great | Maths | Hildi Hawkins | Number lies behind scientific theory, ideas of artistic proportion and rules of musical harmony.How artists and scientists have seen meaning in number, and how patterns of numbers have guided them in their creative work. |
The sum of human knowledge | Numerology | Hildi Hawkins | The ancient art of interpreting numbers answers to a deep-seated human need to find meaning in even the most commonplace things and events. |
The thought that counts | Numerology | Hildi Hawkins | Ancient philosophers were enthralled by the mathematical relationships they found in nature, and believed that numbers underlay every aspect of reality.Certain numbers then acquired their own symbolic 'personality'. |
Taming the Fourth Dimension | Dimensions | Bruce Schecter | Almost 100 years ago Henri Poincaré encapsulated the way we think about space in a famous mathematical conjecture, but proving it has beaten the best minds. Until now. |
The cattle of the sun | Maths | Ian Stewart | Some problems are too big to solve by trial and error. |
Packing them in | Maths | Simon Singh | With the most notorious problem in mathematics now solved, an even older puzzle is drawing the crowds. |
Time in his Hands | Horology | Radio Times | The story of John Harrison. |
Longitude | Horology | Dava Sobel | The true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time. |
Chaos | Quantum | Logic | Cosmos | Conscious | Belief | Elect. | Art | Chem. | Maths |