How Are the Times of Sunrise & Sunset determined ?
Given that astronomy is the oldest science and that sunrise and sunset are very basic celestial phenomena, you might have thought this would have been sorted out centuries ago. Not a bit of it!
Why are mathematicians so interested in prime numbers?
Why are mathematicians so interested in prime numbers? Well it turns out that Prime numbers are the building blocks of all numbers greater than 1. That is, every number is either itself a prime, such as 2,17,53 or 673, or is the product of primes …
Why do Buses Come in Threes ?
Everybody knows that if you want to catch a bus, you spend ages waiting and then three will come at once. That at least is the urban myth which is popular enough to become the title of a book. According to mathematicians, however, it really is a myth. Buses don’t usually come in threes, they come in twos, and the reason why this is so can be found in this article.
When it’s raining what’s the best way to keep dry – Run or Walk ?
When it then starts raining and you don’t have your umbrella with you the question is should run or walk. If you run, think of all those extra raindrops that you are colliding with. On the other hand, if you walk you will be out in the rain for longer.
The Numbers Man – Fibonacci & the Origins of our Number System
If ever there was a unifying World language it would be that of numbers. The 10 digits we utilise are in universal use throughout the world. You have no problem ‘conversing’ with anyone in any culture. In this article we look at the remarkable story of numbers and how one man helped to introduce them into the European ‘vocabulary’ .
How did the Romans do the calculations necessary for construction and other purposes using Roman numerals?
The Romans were skilled architects and engineers the likes of which the world had not seen before. They built huge elaborate and perfectly balanced structures that are not only still standing but still in use 2,000 years later. However their number system, whilst useful, was anything but straight forward. So how did the Romans manage to do the calculations necessary for construction using this rather unwieldy number system ?
Why is a circle divided into 360 Degrees ?
Stop and think for a moment , we live in a world where our main number system is in base 10 so why do we have the rather odd base 60 for time and angles. Why not decimal time or decimal segments to represent angles in a circle ?
How Many Piano Tuners in Chigago ? – Or how to answer a question with little or no knowledge at all !
Enrico Fermi showed how a whole range of scientific questions could be answered with very little basic knowledge and 1 simple rule. In this article we look at this amazing theory.
Chaos and Disorder – or Why does it always happen to me ?
Why do so many things seem to go wrong ? Sometimes you suspect that the universe is out to get you! We need to look at some scientific theories surround something called Entropy or the “The laws of thermodynamics”
Zero – the rise of nothingness
Zero is now so central to the way we think, and to our key technologies, that it’s hard to imagine a time before we had it.
How Is the Date of Easter Calculated?
Easter is a moveable feast, which means that it does not occur on the same date every year. But how is it calculated ?
