Every pure musical tone has a frequency, the number of oscillations per second in the sound wave. Doubling the frequency corresponds to moving up one octave. A musical note consists of a base frequency or pitch, called the fundamental together with a series of harmonics, or oscillations whose frequencies are whole-number multiples of the fundamental … Continue reading Temperamental Tuning
Month: August 2014
Biomathematics: the New Frontier
Mathematics is coming to Life in a Big Way. This week's That’s Maths in The Irish Times (TM051, or Search for “thatsmaths” at irishtimes.com) is about the increasing importance of mathematics in the biological sciences. Once upon a time biology meant zoology and botany, the study of animals and plants. The invention of the microscope … Continue reading Biomathematics: the New Frontier
Do you remember Venn?
Do you recall coming across those diagrams with overlapping circles that were popularised in the 'sixties', in conjunction with the “New Maths”. They were originally introduced around 1880 by John Venn, and now bear his name. John Venn Venn was a logician and philosopher, born in Hull, Yorkshire in 1834. He studied at Cambridge University, … Continue reading Do you remember Venn?
“Come See the Spinning Globe”
That’s Maths in The Irish Times this week (TM050, or Search for “thatsmaths” at irishtimes.com) is about how a simple pendulum can demonstrate the rotation of the Earth. Spectators gathered in Paris in March 1851 were astonished to witness visible evidence of the Earth's rotation. With a simple apparatus comprising a heavy ball swinging on … Continue reading “Come See the Spinning Globe”
ThatsMaths 