Column
- Math
Computers by the Trillions
The notion of using molecules as the working elements of a computer goes back several decades. It wasn’t until 1994, however, that anyone actually stepped into a laboratory and succeeded in solving a computational problem in a test tube. That was when computer scientist Leonard M. Adleman of the University of Southern California, using techniques […]
- Math
How Far Away?
As you look around, you constantly make decisions about how far away something is–whether it’s a dog sniffing at a nearby tree or a friend down the street. If you were a surveyor, you could measure angles and then use high-school trigonometry to calculate distances. That’s great for drawing a map or establishing property lines, […]
- Math
How Far Away?
As you look around, you constantly make decisions about how far away something is–whether it’s a dog sniffing at a nearby tree or a friend down the street. If you were a surveyor, you could measure angles and then use high-school trigonometry to calculate distances. That’s great for drawing a map or establishing property lines, […]
- Math
Guessing Cards
Card-guessing tricks give a magician the opportunity to show off his or her mind-reading prowess. In many cases, the illusion of mind reading arises not from sleight of hand but as a consequence of some mathematical principle. One of the most startling of such prediction tricks is known as the Kruskal count, named for Rutgers […]
- Math
The Math Hatter and More
Looking for a cool gift for someone mathematically inclined? An unusual, conversation-generating token of appreciation? The World Wide Web offers a number of intriguing possibilities–if you know where to stop and shop. Metro cars in action. Smart Mouth letter dispenser. Original Stonehenge watch. A little ad in a mathematics newsletter recently alerted me to the […]
- Math
The Math Hatter and More
Looking for a cool gift for someone mathematically inclined? An unusual, conversation-generating token of appreciation? The World Wide Web offers a number of intriguing possibilities–if you know where to stop and shop. Metro cars in action. Smart Mouth letter dispenser. Original Stonehenge watch. A little ad in a mathematics newsletter recently alerted me to the […]
- Math
Canary Songs
All it takes to sing like a canary is good breath and muscle control. Simply by manipulating air pressure and muscle tension in its vocal organ, or syrinx, a canary can generate an amazingly varied repertoire of trills, warbles, and other melodic syllables. This insight comes from a novel mathematical model of sound production in […]
- Math
Canary Songs
All it takes to sing like a canary is good breath and muscle control. Simply by manipulating air pressure and muscle tension in its vocal organ, or syrinx, a canary can generate an amazingly varied repertoire of trills, warbles, and other melodic syllables. This insight comes from a novel mathematical model of sound production in […]
- Math
Online Bidding Tips
The auction Web site known as eBay has become a vast marketplace, bringing together buyers and sellers of all sorts of goods. It has also become a handy laboratory for testing ideas in economics about markets and prices. In general, auctions ought to serve as an efficient mechanism for setting prices. Consequently, you would expect […]
- Math
Online Bidding Tips
The auction Web site known as eBay has become a vast marketplace, bringing together buyers and sellers of all sorts of goods. It has also become a handy laboratory for testing ideas in economics about markets and prices. In general, auctions ought to serve as an efficient mechanism for setting prices. Consequently, you would expect […]
- Math
Absolutely Abnormal
Identifying the normal (or even the abnormal) in mathematics can pose serious difficulties. In 1909, mathematician Émile Borel (1871–1956) introduced the concept of normality as one way to characterize the resemblance between the digits of a mathematical constant such as pi (the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter) and a sequence of random […]
- Math
Tolstoy’s Calculus
“Absolute continuity of motion is not comprehensible to the human mind. Laws of motion of any kind become comprehensible to man only when he examines arbitrarily selected elements of that motion; but at the same time, a large proportion of human error comes from the arbitrary division of continuous motion into discontinuous elements.” This striking […]
