Latest news from Plus magazine!  - http://plus.maths.org

In this newsletter:

- Latest news
- Browse with Plus
- Mathematical moments
- Live Maths


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Latest news from Plus

Seeking truth with statistics - Is complex statistical evidence being
presented properly in court?
http://plus.maths.org/latestnews/may-aug04/statslaw/index.html

Cat count - Using mathematics to do a head count, researchers have
discovered the world's biggest jaguar population in a protected area.
http://plus.maths.org/latestnews/may-aug04/jaguar/index.html

Let there be light... (but not too much!) -  Acquire the skills of a
professional photographer thanks to some mathematical manipulation of
your digital photos.
http://plus.maths.org/latestnews/jan-apr04/contrast/index.html


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Browse with Plus

The "Kryptos" Sculpture - While taking a virtual tour of the CIA (as
you do), Plus stumbled across this intriguing sculpture in the New
Headquarters Building.  This symbolic sculpture is like a history of
cryptography, and even includes four code challenges, one of which is
yet to be broken.  It sounds like a task for a Plus reader...

http://www.cia.gov/cia/information/tour/krypt.html

More on cryptography and codes:
http://plus.maths.org/indices/keyword_urls.html#CRYPTOGRAPHY
http://plus.maths.org/indices/topic_urls.html#ENCRYPTION


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Mathematical moments

Blaise Pascal - Born 19 June 1623, Died 19 August 1662, France.
Pascal was a brilliant mathematician who made significant contributions
to geometry, probability and physics.  Initially teaching himself
mathematics and producing results in projective geometry as a
teenager, he went on to create the first digital calculator and
laid the foundations of probability theory with Fermat.  Also a deeply
religious man, Pascal used mathematics and probability to argue for the
existence of God in "Pascal's Wager". His name is remembered in the
unit of pressure, the PASCAL programming language, and the Pascal
triangle of binomial coefficients.

"What is man in nature? Nothing in relation to the infinite, all in
relation to nothing, a mean between nothing and everything."
- Blaise Pascal, 'Pensees' (1670)

Read more about Blaise Pascal ...

from the MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive:
http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Pascal.html

and about Pascal, probability and projective geometry from Plus:
http://plus.maths.org/issue20/features/korner/
http://plus.maths.org/issue4/grimmett/
http://plus.maths.org/issue23/features/criminisi/index.html


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Live Maths

More or Less - Plus's favourite radio show about the ubiquitous world
of numbers is back on air for another season.

When: 3pm Thursdays from June 17 2004
Where: BBC Radio 4 - for more information see the 'More or Less'
website:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/more_or_less/default.stm


A Theory of Practically Everything - The current exhibition at New
York's Pierogi gallery features the mathematics of Maxwell's Equations
painted directly on the walls.  The artist, Gene Oldfield, who also has
masters degrees in mathematics and physics, says the hieroglyphic
beauty of the written equation transcends the boundaries of art and
science.

When: until 28th June 2004
Where: Pierogi, 177 North 9th Street, Brooklyn, New York.  For more
information see http://www.pierogi2000.com/


Happy reading from the Plus team.

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