Latest news from Plus magazine! - http://plus.maths.org
In this newsletter:
- Latest news
- Browse with Plus
- Mathematical moments
- Live maths
- The Plus new writers award
**********
Latest news
Eye on the ball - Goal keepers defend against the maths of the new World Cup
ball
http://plus.maths.org/latestnews/may-aug06/teamgeist/index.html
Hide and seek - Maths uncovers hidden files lurking within digital images.
http://plus.maths.org/latestnews/may-aug06/steg/index.html
**********
Browse with Plus
Death Star Firepower
Watching the Death Star destroy the planet Alderaan in the Star Wars trilogy
was awe-inspiring in the cinema, but just how powerful would it need to be to
blow a planet apart? If this is a question that has ever kept you awake at
night, you need to read this detailed analysis of the physics behind the Death
Star. Using Newtonian mechanics and the equations for gravity and kinetic
energy, Michael Wong manages to perform a scientifically coherent analysis of
this fictitious superweapon. Plus always loved Star Wars, and knowing the
maths behind the magic of the Death Star only made us love it more!
http://www.stardestroyer.net/Empire/Tech/Beam/DeathStar.html
Read more about Star Wars in Plus:
http: //plus.maths.org/issue17/features/measure/index.html
http: //plus.maths.org/issue23/news/xray/index.html
http: //plus.maths.org/issue26/features/sautoy/
http: //plus.maths.org/issue35/features/rosenthal/index.html
**********
Mathematical moments
Andrew Wiles announces his proof of Fermat's Last Theorem - 23 June 1993 in the
Isaac Newton Institute, Cambridge, UK.
"I have discovered a truly remarkable proof which this margin is too small to
contain."
With this note, written around 1630 in the margin of a maths text, Pierre de
Fermat created one of the most famous mathematical quests we have ever known.
Fermat's supposedly "remarkable" proof was to a problem that became known
as Fermat's Last Theorem:
x (raised to the power n) + y (raised to the power n) = z (raised to the power
n)
has no non-zero integer solutions for x, y and z when n > 2.
For centuries mathematicians battled to find a proof for the theorem, making
only gradual progress despite countless hours dedicated to the task. Then at
around 10.30 am on the 23 June 1993, in the last of three lectures he gave at
the Isaac Newton Institute, the British mathematician Andrew Wiles modestly
announced his proof of this elusive result. After writing the theorem on the
blackboard, he said "I will stop here" and sat down.
There was, however, a hitch. During the reviewing process a number of problems
in the proof became apparent. Wiles solved most of these, but stubborn hole
remained in the proof, and it took more than a year before he conquered the
proof once and for all.
It had been a lifetime's work for Wiles, apparently he became fascinated by the
problem as a school boy in Cambridge. The final proof of Fermat's Last Theorem
was a momentous event, but it was the tremendous mathematical developments that
were made over the centuries of searching for a proof that have been the real
legacy.
Read more about this historical mathematical moment...
on Plus...
http: //plus.maths.org/issue10/features/proof4/
http: //plus.maths.org/latestnews/jan-apr05/serre/index.html
http: //www.plus.maths.org/issue25/features/budd/
http: //plus.maths.org/latestnews/sep-dec04/kepler/
at the Isaac Newton Institute... http://www.newton.cam.ac.uk/history/index.html
and at the MacTutor History of Maths Archive
http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/HistTopics/Fermat's_last_theorem.html
**********
Live maths
Will the Sun Rise Tomorrow?
How much can mathematicians and scientists really know about the world? Just
because the sun has risen every day so far, is that a good reason to think it
is going to rise again tomorrow? Is there a mathematical proof that it will?
Peter Lipton will shine light on these and other questions that worry
philosophers and mathematicians alike.
When: Thursday 6th July 2006, 5 pm
Where: Centre for Mathematical Sciences, Clarkson Road, Cambridge
Admission is free but by ticket only, for more information visit
http://mmp.maths.org/events/eventlist.php
Mathematicians behaving badly
Since the foundation of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich Park in 1675,
Greenwich has had an important place in the development of mathematics in
Britain. But the story of mathematics at Greenwich also illustrates its human
side. Sometimes mathematicians are driven by personal rivalry as well as by
pure scientific interest. The bitter feuds between them and the poisonous
criticism they heaped on each other show mathematicians as human beings who
don't always get things right! Find out more in this lecture by Tony Mann.
When: Thursday, 13th of July, 7 - 8.30 pm
Where: Burnside Lecture Theatre, King William Court, University of Greenwich,
London SE10 9LS
Cost: £8, £5 members or concession
Info: http://www.rigb.org/rimain/calendar/detail.jsp?&id=278
More of Less
Plus's favourite radio show on all things numerical is back on the air. Listen
to programme on Thursdays at 3 pm on BBC Radio 4.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/more_or_less/default.stm
**********
The Plus new writers award - maths is the language of the universe, so what
have you got to say?
The Plus new writers award is still open for entries. Try your hand at being a
Plus author, and you could get published in the December issue and even win an
iPod. Competition closes September 30th 2006, for more details visit
http://plus.maths.org/competition.
Happy reading from the Plus team!
**********
If you received this message you have subscribed yourself to the PLUS-ANNOUNCE
mailing list via our website. If you do not wish to remain on the list please
visit
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/wa.exe?SUBED1=plus-announce&A=1
and follow the instructions to leave the list.
If you have any comments on this newsletter, or Plus Magazine, please contact
us at [log in to unmask] - we are always happy to hear from our readers!
Feel free to forward this email to anyone you think might be interested.
|
