Yesterday, I was asked by Mariana Farinha for podcasts I would recommend to a college student of Mathematics. I assume this is college in the American sense, i.e. university. Though targetting an audience is usually a broad business, so with a suitable margin of error I replied with a few, retweeted the request and a…
The Hidden Maths of Eurovision
Every year, the Eurovision Song Contest brings with it fresh accusations that the results are affected more by politics than music. But how much of the outcome is in fact determined by mathematics?
Matt Parker talks percentages
If anyone caught BBC1’s consumer moanfest Watchdog this week, they may have been pleasantly surprised to see Aperiodicobber ((The internet assures me that ‘cobber’ is Australian slang for ‘friend’.)) Matt Parker featured in the show. Following a segment about a UK sports chain and its shocking use of the classic ‘UP TO 70% OFF’ ruse, they…
Google Doodle: The Witch of Agnesi
Today’s Google doodle (for those not in the know, the Google homepage alters its header based on the date, and on dates of special nerdy significance, they theme them around relevant birthdays/anniversaries) is about Maria Gaetana Agnesi, a female mathematician. Agnesi was born on 16th May 1718, making today her 296th birthday. This means you…
Primo: now a colourful, actual mathematical board game
Primo, a board game which puts the ‘fun’ in the fundamental theorem of arithmetic, has now been successfully funded via Kickstarter. In a recent blog post, the creators Katherine Cook and Daniel Finkel boast: The game plays beautifully in play test after play test. It’s one of the most mathematically rich games we have ever seen, and…
Carnival of Mathematics 110
The next issue of the Carnival of Mathematics, rounding up blog posts from the month of April, and compiled by Colin Beveridge, is now online at Flying Colours Maths. The Carnival rounds up maths blog posts from all over the internet, including some from our own Aperiodical. See our Carnival of Mathematics page for more information.
Make math ¬ war: American military invests in homotopy type theory
The Homotopy Type Theory book was an ambitious attempt to relay the foundations of maths on a combination of type theory and topology. It also makes heavy use of computer proof-checking, which might be why the US Department of Defense is interested in it: they’ve just given Carnegie Mellon University’s Steve Awodey $7.5 million to continue the project.…