Daniel Bernoulli was born in 1700 into a remarkably talented family. He excelled in mathematics, but also studied and lectured in medicine, botany and physics. In 1760, he submitted a paper to the Academy of Sciences in Paris dealing with the effects of inoculation on morbidity. The practice of inoculation, the deliberate introduction of a … Continue reading The End of Smallpox
Month: September 2012
Khan Academy
This week, That's Maths (TM005) discusses the large range of maths education videos that are available free of charge from the Khan Academy website. There are about 3,200 tutorials, covering the whole range of second-level mathematics. Salman Khan's Technology, Entertainment and Design (TED) presentation is available on-line: Let’s Use Video to Reinvent Education. There are … Continue reading Khan Academy
The Beautiful Game
What is the most beautiful rectangular shape? What is the ratio of width to height that is most aesthetically pleasing? This question has been considered by art-lovers for centuries and one value appears consistently, called the golden ratio or Divine proportion. I must admit that the notion of an ideal ratio makes me uncomfortable. How … Continue reading The Beautiful Game
Packing & Stacking
In That's Maths this week (TM004), we look at the problem of packing goods of fixed size and shape in the most efficient way. Packing problems, concerned with storing objects as densely as possible in a container, have a long history, and have broad applications in engineering and industry. Johannes Kepler conjectured that the standard … Continue reading Packing & Stacking
No Maths Involved!
Whether or not you enjoy solving them, those 9x9 grids with numbers and blank cells cannot have escaped your notice. Sudoku puzzles have swept the world since exploding on the scene in 2005. They are found in newspapers everywhere, providing daily amusement to all who like a minor mathematical challenge. The objective of Sudoku is … Continue reading No Maths Involved!
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