Navigation by numbers
Maths is fundamental to the design and development of navigation systems. They use many different branches of maths, but particularly geometry, algebra, calculus, and probability.
Science & Engineering
Did you know …
…your body contains more bacterial cells than human ones? The average adult is made up of 10 million million cells but there are 10 times as many bacterial cells living inside us.
Science & Engineering
-
-
Weighing the world
In the late 18th century knowing the density of the Earth was a crucial, but missing, piece in a puzzle. Not only could that knowledge provide an insight in what was at the centre of the Earth, it could also provide the actual densities of every other body in the solar system – at this […]
-
What makes a computer a computer?
You probably think of computers as being made of silicon chips. But in theory, you could also make a computer from billiard balls, streams of water or chains.
-
What time is it? From sundials to atomic clocks
The simple question of ‘what time is it?’ started with a stick in the ground and is currently answered by closely observing the inner workings of caesium atoms.
-
Knot just a piece of string
Have you ever struggled to untie a particularly tight knot, battled with the jumbled mess of cables hidden behind your PC, or wondered why your shoelaces won’t stay tied? If so, you’re in good company, as mathematicians have wrestled with knots for over 200 years.
-
Million-year-old maths
Dinosaurs are the largest animals to ever to walk the Earth. Nothing around on land today can compare to massive creatures like Diplodocus or Tyrannosaurus rex, though the water-dwelling blue whale dwarfs even the biggest prehistoric monster. People who study dinosaurs are called palaeontologists, and their work can sometimes be pretty tough – how do […]
-
Microwave ovens
Why is mathematics crucial to the design of the microwave?
-
How round is your money?
The British 50p coin has a rather unusual shape. Like a circle, it has a fixed diameter, but clearly it isn’t as round as a circle. However, it is rounder than a regular heptagon, which has straight sides. So, just how round is it?
-
Quantum computation
Down beneath everything we know lies another world. A world where nothing is forever, nothing is impossible, and nothing is certain.
-
The first computer programme
Ada King, Countess of Lovelace, was the only legitimate child of romantic poet Byron. At 17, her remarkable maths abilities began to show.
-
Solving crime with science and maths
Have you ever watched TV programmes like CSI or Bones and wondered how a real crime lab works? Forensic scientists use their knowledge of biology and chemistry to help police solve crimes, but they also need a solid understanding of maths. Investigative techniques such as DNA profiling and fingerprint identification rely on statistics and equations […]
-
Smashing up the universe
The Large Hadron Collider is an ambitious project which hopes to find the smallest pieces that make up matter and study them.
