Thatsmaths

In 1920, a kindergarten class was asked to describe the biggest number that they could imagine. One child proposed to “write down digits until you get(...)

It may seem too much to expect that a person’s geographic origin can be determined from a DNA sample. But, thanks to a mathematical technique called p(...)

Our lives have been severely restricted in recent months. We are assured the constraints have been imposed following “the best scientific advice”, but(...)

Albrecht Dürer was born in Nuremberg in 1471, third of a family of 18 children. Were he still living, he would be celebrating his 549th birthday on Th(...)

Next Tuesday – May 12th – is the 200th anniversary of the birth of John Casey, a notable Irish geometer. Casey was born in 1820 in Kilbeheny, Co Limer(...)

In its initial stages, the coronavirus pandemic grew at an exponential rate. What does this mean? The number of infected people in a country is growin(...)

Video games generate worldwide annual sales of about €140 billion. With millions of people confined at home with time to spare, the current pandemic m(...)

There is widespread anxiety about the threat of the Covid-19 virus. Mathematics now plays a vital role in combating the spread of epidemics, and will (...)

Samuel Haughton was born in Co Carlow in 1821. He entered Trinity College Dublin aged just 16 and graduated in 1843. He was elected a fellow in 1844 a(...)

The irregular distribution of the first digits of numbers in databases provides a valuable tool for fraud detection. A remarkable rule that applies to(...)