The Greeks were wary of infinities of any kind, and nothing like an exact definition of 'ratio' was possible for them... Irrationality Tamed Bill Casselman University of British Columbia Not so long ago, the internet magazine Quanta posted an article titled "How the square root of two became a number".Read More →
We see a distinct preference for denying the premise of the measurement rather than accepting a measured value of zero… Much Ado About Zero Anil Venkatesh Adelphi University Act NULLA1 It happened at the peak of remote instruction. I had just finished a Zoom session with my calculus students fromRead More →
Polynomials, it turns out, are useful for more than just input-output assignments! Perspectives on Polynomials (it’s a witch!) Courtney Gibbons Hamilton College It was a dark and stormy night… Okay, it was probably more like 3:30 in the afternoon on a crisp fall day back when I was teaching CalcRead More →
Alan Turing and the Countability of Computable Numbers Turing's methodology was unique: he imagined hypothetical machines that could perform complicated mathematical tasks in a deterministic manner, in the way computers do today. In this way, he inadvertently kickstarted the entire field of modern computer science... Adam A. Smith University ofRead More →
The Battle of Numbers Our topic is the game called rithmomachia or rithmomachy—literally, the battle of numbers... Ursula Whitcher AMS | Mathematical Reviews, Ann Arbor, Michigan This month, we're going to explore a very old—indeed, medieval—educational game and correct a mathematical error in a sixteenth-century game manual. But before weRead More →
The Once and Future Feature Column We’re going to look back at the Column’s history, revisit some of our favorite columns, and talk about what comes next. Spoiler alert: We’re recruiting new columnists! Ursula Whitcher AMS | Mathematical Reviews, Ann Arbor, Michigan The number 24 has many charming properties. ForRead More →
In Praise of Collaboration Take a look at an extraordinary collaboration in discrete geometry and related geometrical mathematics, the collaboration of Branko Grünbaum and Geoffrey Colin Shephard. Joe Malkevitch York College (CUNY) Introduction Point and line do many activities together—their collaborations create a rich texture for many mathematicians and geometers,Read More →