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Mathematics


Articles

A History of Zero, by J.J. O'Connor and E.F. Robertson
Zero makes shadowy appearances only to vanish again almost as if mathematicians were searching for it yet did not recognise its fundamental significance even when they saw it.

Euler's Formula
Euler's formula shows a deep relationship between the trigonometric functions and the complex exponential function.

The greatest equations ever
A great equation does more than set out a fundamental property of the universe, delivering information like a signpost, but works hard to wrest something from nature.

The 20 greatest equations
Maxwell's equations of electromagnetism and the Euler equation top a poll to find the greatest equations of all time.

Earliest Uses of Symbols for Constants
The history of π, e, and other symbols for mathematical constants.

Euler's Beautiful Equation
Science News article celebrating the 300th birthday of Leonhard Euler, and his famous equation.

Imaginary numbers are not imaginary ... and real numbers are not real
Understanding i.

Euler's Formula and Complex Numbers
Just what are complex numbers and why use them?

Leibniz medallion comes to life after 300 years in celebration of Greg Chaitin’s career
Anime Ex Machina

In the mid 1960s, while still a teenager, Chaitin created algorithmic information theory (AIT). In the three decades since, he has been the principal architect of AIT. See also Greg Chaitlin's website.

Unheralded Mathematician Bridges the Prime Gap, by Erica Klarreich
Yitang Zhang, a mathematician virtually unknown to the experts in his field, has taken a huge step forward in understanding one of mathematics’ oldest problems, the twin primes conjecture. Animated illustration of The Sieve of Eratosthenesan, an ancient method to discover primes.

Books

Meta Math! The Quest for Omega, by Gregory Chaitin
An opportunity to get inside the head of a creative mathematician and see what makes him tick. (Full text online)

How Mathematicians Think, by William Byers
You enter the first room of the mansion and it’s completely dark. You stumble around bumping into the furniture, but gradually you learn where each piece of furniture is. Finally after six months or so, you find the light switch, you turn it on, and suddenly it’s all illuminated. Then you move into the next room and spend another six months in the dark. (Introduction online)

Videos

Euler's Number - God Created Mathematics
Euler's equation and Biblical associations.

Euler's identity
Euler's equation and its proof.

Gaussian probability distribution curve demonstration
Demonstration of the bell curve and its appearance in nature, even in the simplest phenomena.

Harmonious Equations, by Keith Devlin
A musical celebration of some of the most beautiful equations in mathematics.

Is God a Mathematician? by Michio Kaku
“The mind of God we believe is cosmic music, the music of strings resonating through 11 dimensional hyperspace."

Numberphile
Videos about numbers and stuff.

Adam Spencer: Why I fell in love with monster prime numbers
"We thought it might be there, and we went and found it. That is the essence of being human."

‪Euler's Identity - Euler's Formula (The God Equation)‬
It's the equation that governs the whole universe, and even defines the human soul!

Understanding e to the pi i
A visual, intuitive explanation of of Euler's formula. Also see Euler's Formula Poem.

The Joy of Stats
Hans Rosling explores the history of statistics, how stats work mathematically, and how, using statistics, we can take the massive deluge of data of today's computer age and use it to see the world as it really is.

Interactive Websites

Web of Stories
Video stories about mathematics.

Slide Shows

Numbers
The meaning of the Arabic numerals

Book descriptions

The Art of the Infinite: The Pleasures of Mathematics, by Robert Kaplan and Ellen Kaplan
The attempt to grasp the ungraspable embodies the essence of mathematics.

Imagining Numbers: (particularly the square root of minus fifteen), by Barry Mazur
Can we really feel our imaginative faculty at work, striving toward, and then finally achieving, an act of the imagination?

The Nothing that Is: A Natural History of Zero, by Robert Kaplan
If you look at zero you see nothing; but look through it and you will see the world.

Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea, by Charles Seife
Cultures girded themselves against zero, and philosophies crumbled under its influence, for zero is different from the other numbers. It provides a glimpse of the ineffable and the infinite. This is why it has been feared and hated – and outlawed.

Squaring the Circle: Geometry in Art and Architecture, by Paul A. Calter
A dynamic branch of mathematics, geometry also serves as a creative tool for engineers, artists, and architects.

A Beautiful Math: John Nash, Game Theory, and the Modern Quest for a Code of Nature, by Tom Siegfried
Nash's beautiful math has become a universal language for research in the social sciences and has infiltrated the realms of evolutionary biology, neuroscience, and even quantum physics.

The Calculus of Friendship: What a Teacher and a Student Learned about Life while Corresponding about Math, by Steven Strogatz
The story of an extraordinary connection between a teacher and a student, as chronicled through more than thirty years of letters between them. What makes their relationship unique is that it is based almost entirely on a shared love of calculus.

Spiritual Aspirations Connected with Mathematics: The Experience of American University Students, by Klaus G. Witz
The product of a two-year long interview project of mathematics students, exploring how they became involved in mathematics and found satisfaction and fulfillment in their development.

The Irrationals: A Story of the Numbers You Can't Count On, by Julian Havil
The story of irrational numbers and the mathematicians who have tackled their challenges, from antiquity to the twenty-first century.

Images

NZIMA Logo
The logo for the New Zealand Institute of Mathematics and its Applications. Click here for an interpretation.

Platonic Solids
GIF animations of the five platonic solids.

Mathematical Imagery
Mathematicians and artists continue to create stunning works in all media and to explore the visualization of mathematics

Beauty of Math!

Mathematical Photography
The art of Justin Mullins

Estimating, Experiencing Mathematics Exhibition
Are most of us average? If we classify the inhabitants of a town, the leaves on a tree..., according to a characteristic (size, weight, IQ, level of competence...) the more one approaches the average for each criterion the more individuals there are. The further from the average, the fewer they are. At the extremities, there is almost no one. The graphic representation of this fact is called a Gaussian curve.

Links

The MacTutor History of Mathematics archive

The Abel Prize
The Abel Prize is an international prize for outstanding scientific work in the field of mathematics. It is often called the mathematicians' Nobel Prize.

Leonhard Euler Tercentenary
On April 15th, 2007, the birthday of the great Swiss mathematician and scientist Leonhard Euler (1707-1783) will recur for the 300th time.

Plus magazine!
Plus magazine opens a window to the world of maths, with all its beauty and applications, by providing articles from the top mathematicians and science writers on topics as diverse as art, medicine, cosmology and sport.

Mathematical Fiction
An attempt to collect information about all significant references to mathematics in fiction.

Wolfram Demonstrations Project
An open resource of interactive Mathematica visualizations.

Math Fun Facts!

Math Archives
Organized Internet access to a wide variety of mathematical resources

The Beauty of Mathematics
An interesting and lovely way to look at the beauty of mathematics, and of God, the sum of all wonders.

Mathematical and Educational Quotation Server
Searchable quotations created, edited, and maintained by Julian F. Fleron.

Math Subject Guide
The Subject Guide of Mathematics Resources provided by Ying Zhong, Subject Librarian at Walter W. Stiern Library.

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics
A new online journal, with the archives of The Humanistic Mathematics Network Journal.

The Mathematical Atlas
A collection of short articles designed to provide an introduction to the areas of modern mathematics.

Non-technical books relating to Probability
The notion of “chance” in these books is much broader than what mathematically-oriented readers regard as “probability.”

Math Pages
Links to articles on many areas of mathematics.

The Ultimate Resource on the Fibonacci Sequence
Facts about the Fibonacci Sequence, pop culture references, and links to other resources. (Thanks to Lauren Jackson for the reference)

WeUseMath.org
The most common question students ask math teachers at every level is “When will I use math?”

The Code
A mathematics-based documentary for BBC Two presented by Marcus du Sautoy.