Math

Sign up for our newsletter

We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Math

    Math Factor Radio

    Listen in on some math radio and browse for science songs.

    By Ivars Peterson
  2. Math

    Euler’s Bridges

    A well-known puzzle about bridges led to a pioneering paper in topology.

    By Ivars Peterson
  3. Math

    Does Defense Win Championships?

    In pro football, a good defense doesn't generally trump a good offense.

    By Ivars Peterson
  4. Math

    Pancake Sorting

    Flipping pancakes to stack them according to size can be a tricky business.

    By Ivars Peterson
  5. Math

    Making Sense of the Web’s Structure

    Pioneering studies of social networks and the Web's structure lead to a prestigious prize.

    By Ivars Peterson
  6. Math

    Fields Medals: Mathematicians win awards for geometry, physics, and probability

    Fields Medals have been awarded to four mathematicians, including Grigori Perelman, who proved a famous conjecture about the shapes of higher-dimensional spheres.

    By Erica Klarreich
  7. Math

    Puzzling Names in Boxes

    An ingenious search strategy leads to a death-defying feat.

    By Ivars Peterson
  8. Math

    Lake Wobegon Averages

    Computing average class size can give different answers that depend on your point of view.

    By Ivars Peterson
  9. Math

    Math Lit

    Cryptography and other mathematical topics play key roles in several recent novels.

    By Ivars Peterson
  10. Math

    Names for Numbers

    Named numbers, such as Smiths, have all sorts of intriguing properties.

    By Ivars Peterson
  11. Math

    Aircraft Boarding by the Numbers

    Random airplane boarding isn't so bad.

    By Ivars Peterson
  12. Math

    Chaotic Chomp

    A new, physics-based approach to analyzing simple games, such as Chomp and Nim, reveals changing geometric patterns reminiscent of crystal growth.

    By Ivars Peterson