## Posts Tagged 'Recreational Maths'

### Rambling and Reckoning

A walk on the beach, in the hills or along a river bank provides great opportunities for mathematical reflection. How high is the mountain? How many grains of sand are on the beach? How much water is flowing in the river?  [TM156 or search for “thatsmaths” at irishtimes.com].

While the exact answers may be elusive, we can make reasonable guesstimates using basic knowledge and simple mathematical reasoning. And we will be walking in the footsteps of some of the world’s greatest thinkers.

### Our Dearest Problems

A Colloquium on Recreational Mathematics took place in Lisbon this week. The meeting, RMC-VI (G4GEurope), a great success, was organised by the Ludus Association, with support from several other agencies: MUHNAC, ULisboa, CMAF-IO, CIUHCT, CEMAPRE, and FCT. It was the third meeting integrated in the Gathering for Gardner movement, which celebrates the great populariser of maths, Martin Gardner. For more information about the meeting, see http://ludicum.org/ev/rm/19 .

### Discoveries by Amateurs and Distractions by Cranks

Do amateurs ever solve outstanding mathematical problems? Professional mathematicians are aware that almost every new idea they have about a mathematical problem has already occurred to others. Any really new idea must have some feature that explains why no one has thought of it before  [TM155 or search for “thatsmaths” at irishtimes.com].

Pierre de Fermat and Srinivasa Ramanujan, two brilliant “amateur” mathematicians.

### Tom Lehrer: Comical Musical Mathematical Genius

Tom Lehrer, mathematician, singer, songwriter and satirist, was born in New York ninety years ago. He was active in public performance for about 25 years from 1945 to 1970. He is most renowned for his hilarious satirical songs, many of which he recorded and which are available today on YouTube [see TM147, or search for “thatsmaths” at irishtimes.com].

### Kaprekar’s Number 6174

The Indian mathematician D. R. Kaprekar spent many happy hours during his youth solving mathematical puzzles. He graduated from Fergusson College in Pune in 1929 and became a mathematical teacher at a school in Devlali, north-east of Mumbai.

Kaprekar process for three digit numbers converging to 495 [Wikimedia Commons].

### Learning Maths has never been Easier

Maths is hard: many people find it inscrutable and have negative attitudes towards maths. They may have bad memories of school maths or have been told they lack mathematical talents. This is unfortunate: we all have the capacity to apply reasoning and logic and we can all do maths. Given the vital role mathematics plays in modern society, there is an urgent need to help young people to become more numerate and comfortable with mathematics. With a wealth of online resources, learning maths has never been easier. [TM125 or search for “thatsmaths” at irishtimes.com].

Eoin Gill and Sheila Donegan with Jadine Rock of Rutland National School, Dublin , at the launch of Maths Week Ireland. Image: Shane O’Neill, SON Photographic.

### Fractions of Fractions of Fractions

Numbers can be expressed in several different ways. We are familiar with whole numbers, fractions and decimals. But there is a wide range of other forms, and we examine one of them in this article. Every rational number ${x}$ can be expanded as a continued fraction:

$\displaystyle x = a_0 + \cfrac{1}{ a_1 + \cfrac{1}{ a_2 + \cfrac{1}{ a_3 + \dotsb + \cfrac{1}{a_n} } }} = [ a_0 ; a_1 , a_2 , a_3 , \dots , a_n ]$

where all ${a_n}$ are integers, all positive except perhaps ${a_0}$. If ${a_n=1}$ we add it to ${a_{n-1}}$; then the expansion is unique.