Thatsmaths
93 results

Euler: a mathematician without equal and an overall nice guy
- Science
- January 21, 2021, 01:00
Mathematicians are an odd bunch. Isaac Newton was decidedly unpleasant, secretive and resentful while Carl Friedrich Gauss, according to several biogr(...)

On what day of the week is Christmas? Use the Doomsday Rule
- Science
- December 17, 2020, 06:01
An old nursery rhyme begins “Monday’s child is fair of face/Tuesday’s child is full of grace”. Perhaps character and personality were determined by th(...)

Christmas trees and the four-colour theorem
- Science
- November 24, 2020, 14:47
When decorating our Christmas trees, we aim to achieve an aesthetic balance. Let’s suppose that there is a plenitude of baubles, but that their colour(...)

Ireland’s mapping grid in harmony with GPS
- Science
- November 19, 2020, 06:00
The earthly globe is spherical; more precisely, it is an oblate spheroid, like a ball slightly flattened at the poles. More precisely still, it is a t(...)

Talking about the weather: Forecasting gets better and better
- Science
- November 5, 2020, 01:00
Weather forecasts are getting better. Fifty years ago, predictions beyond one day ahead were of dubious utility. Now, forecasts out to a week ahead ar(...)

Maths prodigy Terence Tao does battle with conjecture
- Science
- October 6, 2020, 11:22
Pick a number; if it is even, divide it by 2; if odd, triple it and add 1. Now repeat the process, each time halving or else tripling and adding 1. He(...)

Mathematics and the nature of physical reality
- Science
- October 1, 2020, 01:00
Applied mathematics is the use of maths to address questions and solve problems outside maths itself. Counting money, designing rockets and vaccines,(...)

Will mathematicians be replaced by computers?
- Science
- September 17, 2020, 01:00
There are ongoing rapid advances in the power and versatility of AI or artificial intelligence. Computers are now producing results in several fields (...)

Better names needed for large numbers
- Science
- September 3, 2020, 06:00
One year ago, there were just two centibillionaires, Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates. Recently, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg has joined the Amazon and Micros(...)

Is there anyone out there? Drake’s Equation gives a clue
- Science
- August 20, 2020, 01:00
The Drake Equation is a formula for the number of developed civilisations in our galaxy, the Milky Way. This number is determined by seven factors. So(...)