Mathematics

Figuring out whether there are more stars in the universe than sand grains on Earth’s seashores requires math—and imagination

Researchers use powerful geometrical methods to try fixing unfair districts. That alone isn’t enough; we need to fight the values behind gerrymandering

If pi is a “normal” number, the constant would contain much more than Shakespeare, resolving why such a random-looking number lives at the heart of simple circles

The Collatz conjecture has plagued mathematicians for decades—so much so that professors warn their students away from it

Are you smarter than an 18th-century Prussian?

The origin of the decimal point, a powerful calculation tool, has been traced back to a mathematician who lived during the Italian Renaissance

A simple solution to gerrymandering crumbles when confronted with math’s “ham sandwich theorem”

Physicists found that the music of Johann Sebastian Bach contains mathematical patterns that help convey information

In the 1970s mathematicians found a simple way to create all numbers, from the infinitely small to infinitely large

A concept from theoretical physics helped confirm the strange connection between two completely different areas of mathematics

Researchers are racing to create codes so complex that even quantum computers can’t break them

A new mathematical proof helps show whether a sequence of numbers is “pseudorandom”