Uncategorized

  1. Math

    Amicable Pairs, Divisors, and a New Record

    The Pythagoreans of ancient Greece were fascinated by whole numbers. One particular interest involved what we now call amicable numbers. Amicable numbers come in pairs in which each number is the sum of the proper divisors of the other. The smallest such pair is 220 and 284. The number 220 is evenly divisible by 1, […]

    By Ivars Peterson
  2. Humans

    From the January 27, 1934, issue

    alt=”Click to view larger image”> FLASH-OVER AT 125,000 VOLTS Beauty is, indeed, the most important if not the only reason for the choice of this week’s front-cover picture. A glass insulator, of the kind that electrically isolates high-tension [power lines] so that they may carry their power uninterruptedly, is shown flashing over after withstanding a […]

    By Science News
  3. Astronomy

    Historical Astronomy and More

    The NASA Astrophysics Data System offers access to a huge, searchable database of journal articles and abstracts in the fields of physics and astronomy.