Column

  1. Math

    A Trillion Pieces of Pi

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  2. Math

    Five-Suit Decks, Traffic-Jam Puzzles, and Other Treats

    Tired of playing the same old card games with the same old cards? One option is to expand the deck to include five suits instead of just four. To solve this difficult Rush Hour puzzle, you must move vehicles out of the way to permit the red car to exit at right. The best known […]

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  3. Math

    Fold-and-Cut Magic

    One of the treats of holidays long past was an activity that involved folding, then cutting a sheet or strip of paper to reveal a lacy snowflake or a chain of identical spruce trees, connected at their sides so it looked like branches brushing up against each other. The result was invariably a delightful surprise. […]

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  4. Math

    Puzzling Lines

    Sol LeWitt’s “Four-Sided Pyramid” at the National Gallery of Art’s Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C. I. Peterson LeWitt’s “Wall Drawing No. 623” at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, Ontario. I. Peterson Born in Hartford, Conn., in 1928, artist Sol LeWitt has often featured geometric and combinatorial themes in his numerous creations. His frequent […]

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  5. Math

    Sliding Pi

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  6. Math

    Ancient Infinities

    An ancient manuscript long hidden from public view has provided significant, new insights into the way Archimedes (287–212 B.C.) did his mathematical work more than 2,000 years ago. The manuscript, known as the Archimedes Palimpsest, is the only source of Archimedes’ treatise on the “Method of Mechanical Theorems.” As the oldest surviving Archimedes manuscript, it’s […]

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  7. Math

    Card Shuffling Shenanigans

    Shuffling cards is a tricky business. It’s also a lucrative one for gambling casinos. In a game such as blackjack, an astute player can try to memorize the cards already played to have a better chance of predicting which cards will come up later, thus potentially gaining an advantage over the dealer and the casino. […]

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  8. Math

    Math Trails in Ottawa

    Housed in a spectacular building redolent of crystals and light, the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa was recently the setting for a highly unusual school event–a mathematics field trip! National Gallery of Canada For several years, math teacher Ron Lancaster of Hamilton, Ontario, has been creating “math trails” for both students and teachers as […]

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  9. Math

    Buffon’s Needling Ants

    The classic probability experiment known as Buffon’s needle produces a statistical estimate of the value of pi, the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. The experiment consists of randomly dropping a needle over and over again onto a wooden floor made up of parallel planks. If the needle’s length is no greater than […]

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  10. Math

    Buffon’s Needling Ants

    The classic probability experiment known as Buffon’s needle produces a statistical estimate of the value of pi, the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. The experiment consists of randomly dropping a needle over and over again onto a wooden floor made up of parallel planks. If the needle’s length is no greater than […]

    By
  11. Math

    Tetris Is Hard

    As many computer- and video-game players have long known, the insanely addictive, immensely popular game of Tetris is tough. You can’t really win; you merely try your best to improve upon previous results. The seven tetrominoes of Tetris. The game was invented in 1985 by mathematician Alexey Pajitnov, then a computer engineer at the Academy […]

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  12. Math

    Tetris Is Hard

    As many computer- and video-game players have long known, the insanely addictive, immensely popular game of Tetris is tough. You can’t really win; you merely try your best to improve upon previous results. The seven tetrominoes of Tetris. The game was invented in 1985 by mathematician Alexey Pajitnov, then a computer engineer at the Academy […]

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