21 October 2014 is the centenary of the birth of Martin Gardner, the supreme populariser of mathematics (amongst much else) who sadly passed in 2010. Those behind the Martin Gardner Centennial website and associated Twitter account @MGardner100th are collecting testimonials from people inspired by his work. What does his extensive written legacy mean to you?…
Carnival of Mathematics 107
The next issue of the Carnival of Mathematics, rounding up blog posts from the month of January, and compiled by Frederick Koh, is now online at White Group Mathematics. 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.
Intersections by Anila Quayyum Agha
Intersections by Anila Quayyum Agha. via Colossal.
Why do $0!$ and $a^0$ equal $1$?
The last two weeks my first year mathematicians and I have covered Taylor series.This means that several times I’ve had the conversation that goes “What’s $0!$?” “It’s $1$.” “Oh, erm, right. Why again?” “Because it works.” This may not be a completely satisfactory answer! One of my students, Callum Mulligan, tweeted this question. Why does…
Puzzlebomb – February 2014
Puzzlebomb is a monthly puzzle compendium. Issue 26 of Puzzlebomb, for February 2014, can be found here: Puzzlebomb – Issue 26 – February 2014 The solutions to Issue 26 can be found here: Puzzlebomb – Issue 26 – February 2014 – Solutions Previous issues of Puzzlebomb, and their solutions, can be found here.
Open Problems in Mathematics, a new open access journal
Here’s a nice idea: a journal for people to write about open problems, with the aim of inspiring someone to have a go at solving them. Open Problems in Mathematics is a new open-access journal set up by Krzysztof Burdzy and a few others, and it’s online now.
An infinite series of blog posts which sums to -1/12
Many of you who are aware of the internet will have noticed that some mild controversy has surrounded a recent Numberphile video, posted last week: [youtube url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-I6XTVZXww]