Math Trek

  1. Math

    Computing on a Cellular Scale

    The behavior of leaf pores resembles that of mathematical systems known as cellular automata.

    By Ivars Peterson
  2. Math

    Hunting e

    Of the irrational, transcendental numbers, pi seems to get all the attention. Web sites and books celebrate its quirks and quandaries. Its digits have been computed to 1,241,100,000,000 decimal places. Lagging far behind in the celebrity sweepstakes is the number known as e. Carried to 20 decimal places, e is 2.71828 18284 59045 23536. Only […]

    By Ivars Peterson
  3. Math

    Turning a Snowball Inside Out

    Turning a sphere inside out without allowing any sharp creases along the way is a tricky mathematical maneuver.