Greater Kashmir Mathematicians have just discovered a new infinity. One that does not follow any rules of Mathematics. It is so strange that it could change how we understand logic, numbers, even the universe itself. It sounds impossible, right? Infinity…
Mathematician Richard Elwes surveys googology, the study of enormous numbers, in a new book In a new book, mathematician Richard Elwes shares how mathematical boundaries have been broken time and time again, thanks to the creative explorers of the biggest…
They are the atoms of arithmetic — indivisible, infinite, and hauntingly unpredictable. Why have the greatest minds in history been seduced by primes? Imagine you are handed an infinitely long list of numbers — 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 … — and you are told that hidden inside this…
Euler’s number 𝑒 is a mathematical constant that appears all over calculus and in countless fundamental equations. This number 𝑒 has many uses, such as in compound interest, growth and decay, and even in linking imaginary numbers to 𝜋. In…
When we think about geometry, we usually imagine clean, perfect shapes: triangles, squares, circles. But nature doesn’t really work like…Continue reading on Medium » Fractal Geometry: The Mathematics of Infinite Complexity When we think about geometry, we usually imagine clean,…
I want to tell you about the worst kind of humiliation — the kind that happens quietly, in your own head, when you’re twenty-two years old and you realize you’ve been counting your whole life without actually seeing anything. It happened…
How a silly thought experiment exposed a permanent crack in the foundation of human certainty Try this. Read the following sentence carefully: “This statement is false.” Is it true? If it is — then what it’s saying must be correct, which…
Yahoo They come up with all kinds of explanations and proofs, some of which are plausible. But as polls and field reports have shown, many others still refuse to believe them. Meanwhile irrational numbers, such as pi (π) or √2, have…
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Credit: Lidiia Moor / Getty Images "The audience is anyone who likes math," he says. "You don't need calculus, just a memory of high school math. If you remember that, the book should be accessible." Part of the book's charm lies…
The foundations of mathematics: set theory, the sizes of infinity, what numbers are, and puzzles such as whether 0.999... equals 1.
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