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How Math Achieved Transcendence

By David S. Richeson
June 27, 2023
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Transcendental numbers include famous examples like e and π, but it took mathematicians centuries to understand them.

A man in a blue jacket on a staircase.
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A Plan to Address the World’s Challenges With Math

By Kevin Hartnett
May 11, 2023
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Minhyong Kim is leading a new initiative called Mathematics for Humanity that encourages mathematicians to apply their skills to solving social problems.

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The Colorful Problem That Has Long Frustrated Mathematicians

By David S. Richeson
March 29, 2023
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The four-color problem is simple to explain, but its complex proof continues to be both celebrated and despised.

Illustration of the earth warping space-time, surrounded by small gears and galaxies.
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How to Think About Relativity

By Sean Carroll
November 14, 2022
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Albert Einstein’s ideas about space-time aren’t exactly intuitive, and they aren’t exactly Einstein’s, either.

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Why Mathematicians Study Knots

By David S. Richeson
October 31, 2022
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Far from being an abstract mathematical curiosity, knot theory has driven many findings in math and beyond.

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How Isaac Newton Discovered the Binomial Power Series

By Steven Strogatz
August 31, 2022
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Rethinking questions and chasing patterns led Newton to find the connection between curves and infinite sums.

A graphed cubic equation separates 16th-century scientists Niccolò Fontana Tartaglia, and Gerolamo Cardano
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The Sordid Past of the Cubic Formula

By David S. Richeson
June 30, 2022
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The quest to solve cubic equations led to duels, betrayals — and modern mathematics.

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How We Can Make Sense of Chaos

By David S. Richeson
March 2, 2022
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Dynamical systems can be chaotic and impossible to predict, but mathematicians have discovered tools to help understand them.

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An Ancient Geometry Problem Falls to New Mathematical Techniques

By Steve Nadis
February 8, 2022
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Three mathematicians show, for the first time, how to form a square with the same area as a circle by cutting them into interchangeable pieces that can be visualized.


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