Many mathematicians spend their time proving results. The (very old) joke is that they are machines for turning coffee into theorems. A theorem is a statement that has been shown, by a sequence of irrefutable steps, to follow logically from a set of fundamental assumptions known as axioms. These axioms themselves may be self-evident, or … Continue reading Experiment and Proof
Month: December 2013
Santa’s Fractal Journey
The article in this week’s That’s Maths column in the Irish Times ( TM035 ) is about the remarkable Christmas Eve journey of Santa Claus. Dimensions & Fractals How far must Santa travel on Christmas Eve? At a broad scale, he visits all the continents. In more detail he travels to every country. Zooming in, … Continue reading Santa’s Fractal Journey
Ireland’s Fractal Coastline
Reports of the length of Ireland's coastline vary widely. The World Factbook of the Central Intelligence Agency gives a length of 1448 km. The Ordnance Survey of Ireland has a value of 3,171 km (http://www.osi.ie). The World Resources Institute, using data from the United States Defense Mapping Agency, gives 6,347km (see Wikipedia article [3]). Fractals … Continue reading Ireland’s Fractal Coastline
Population Projections
The Population Division of the United Nations marked 31 October 2011 as the "Day of Seven Billion". While that was a publicity gambit, world population is now above this figure and climbing. The global ecosystem is seriously stressed, and climate change is greatly aggravated by the expanding population. Accurate estimates of growth are essential for … Continue reading Population Projections
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