The Aperiodical 

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Aperiodvent, Day 18: Numbers Aplenty

By Katie Steckles. Posted December 18, 2015



Ever wanted to look up a number and find out all kinds of things about it (like, if you’re making a mathematical advent calendar and want interesting facts about the date each day)? No longer do you have to sift through all the tedious non-maths facts you get if you look up a number on Wikipedia: there’s Numbers Aplenty, which allows you to type in any integer up to 15 digits long, and it’ll tell you a long list of the interesting mathematical properties it has. Integeresting!

This is part of the Aperiodical Advent Calendar. We’ll be posting a new surprise for you each morning until Christmas!


 

Aperiodvent, Day 17: Old Pappus’ Book of Mathematical Calligraphy

By Katie Steckles. Posted December 17, 2015

Mathematician and part-time calligrapher Andrew Stacey has assembled a beautiful guide to mathematical calligraphy, from the way mathematicians use notation to how different types of symbols can be written using calligraphy techniques. So you can sign all your Christmas cards with maths notation, and keep them looking pretty at the same time!

This is part of the Aperiodical Advent Calendar. We’ll be posting a new surprise for you each morning until Christmas!

 

Aperiodvent, Day 16: A tessellating bird

By Christian Lawson-Perfect. Posted December 16, 2015

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fhILAN9vOY&feature=youtu.be

If the song “The Twelve Days of Christmas” had gone up to day 16, that line might have gone “sixteen teals a-tessellating”, and it might look like the above video, made by Chris Watson.

Chris has made some worksheets which can help you make your own tessellations. He also sells his own work at tessellationart.com.

This is part of the Aperiodical Advent Calendar. We’ll be posting a new surprise for you each morning until Christmas!

Video: Mathematical Christmas Present Wrapping

By Peter Rowlett. Posted December 15, 2015

If you were wondering what happened with all the left-over wrapping paper from this morning’s post about wallpaper groups, Katie has made a YouTube video demonstrating some mathematical quirks of gift wrapping. Enjoy!

Aperiodvent, Day 15: Mathematiques Modernes – A + B = C

By Katie Steckles. Posted December 15, 2015

This is part of the Aperiodical Advent Calendar. We’ll be posting a new surprise for you each morning until Christmas!

Aperiodvent, Day 14: Which Springer-Verlag graduate text in mathematics are you?

By Katie Steckles. Posted December 14, 2015



Today we can put to rest a question that’s troubled many a mathematician: which Spinger-Verlag graduate text in mathematics are you? Answer a few questions about yourself, and you’ll find out which of the little yellow books you are.

This is part of the Aperiodical Advent Calendar. We’ll be posting a new surprise for you each morning until Christmas!

Aperiodvent, Day 13: The Friendship Theorem

By Katie Steckles. Posted December 13, 2015

Today’s entry is a Theorem of the Day:

The Friendship Theorem:

In a finite graph in which any two distinct vertices share exactly one common neighbour, some vertex is adjacent to all other vertices.

In other words, if every pair of people at a party shares exactly one mutual friend at the party then some guest is a friend of everybody present. Maybe this will come in handy at Christmas parties? For more information, and other ways in which graph theory can help you in social situations, see the full listing at Theorem of the Day: the Friendship Theorem.

This is part of the Aperiodical Advent Calendar. We’ll be posting a new surprise for you each morning until Christmas!