In this newsletter:

* Latest news
* Mathematical moments
* Browse with Plus
* Live maths


**********

Latest news

* Happy 10th birthday Google!
And three cheers for the maths behind its success!
http://plus.maths.org/latestnews/sep-dec08/google10/index.html

* Guessing is good for you
Intuitive number sense linked to formal mathematics ability 
http://plus.maths.org/latestnews/sep-dec08/numbersense/index.html

* Swimming in mathematics
The mathematics of foam coats Olympic swimming venue 
http://plus.maths.org/latestnews/sep-dec08/watercube/index.html

* The LHC for dummies
Essential info on the world's newest and biggest particle accelerator
http://plus.maths.org/latestnews/sep-dec08/lhc/index.html

* The mystery of Zipf
Some loquacious maths 
http://plus.maths.org/latestnews/may-aug08/Zipf/index.html

Plus... read more on the Plus blog, including info on the latest maths 
telly experiences: http://plus.maths.org/blog

And for all the Plus podcasts, see:
http://plus.maths.org/podcasts/

**********

Mathematical moments

Pierre Louis Moreau de Maupertuis
Born on the 28th of September 1698 in Saint Malo, France
Died on the 27th of July 1759 in Basel, Switzerland

For an originator of the "principle of least action", Maupertuis led a 
surprisingly productive life, shunning neither effort nor intrigue. His 
early academic studies focussed on philosophy and music, were interrupted 
by a stint with the Musketeers, and resumed in Paris, where his interest 
in mathematics began to blossom. His first paper as a member of the 
Academie de Sciences explored the influence of a musical instrument's 
shape on the sounds it produces, and was followed by a range of works on 
mathematical curves. The entirely non-mathematical Salamander - yes, the 
amphibian - was the topic of another of his papers from that period.

Keen to expand his mathematical expertise, Maupertuis relocated to Basle 
in 1729, where he lived with and studied under none other than Johann 
Bernoulli. Back in Paris, papers on astronomy, mechanics and differential 
equations followed, and Maupertuis established himself as an eclectic 
mathematical talent. But it wasn't all theory. In 1736 Maupertuis set out 
on an expedition to Lapland, his mission to measure the length of a 
degree along the meridian. After enduring swarms of pesky insects, 
terrible cold and being shipwrecked, Maupertuis returned in 1937 with the 
knowledge that the Earth was oblate ... and two native Finnish girls. The 
latter did not further his academic standing, instead they laid him open 
to ridicule from his enemies.

And enemies there were many. Maupertuis, who was given to penning 
venomous attacks on his opponents, managed to fall out with Johann 
Bernoulli and later also with Voltaire with whom he had become friends 
after the expedition. On the upside, his academic talents inspired the 
interest of Frederick the Great, who in 1740 invited him to become 
president of the brand new Berlin Academy. After visiting Frederick in 
Berlin, Maupertuis ended up on the battle field on the side of the 
Prussians, was taken prisoner by the Austrians, but was eventually 
released, shaken but unharmed. In 1946, after his career had made good 
progress in Paris, he did take the presidency of the Berlin Academy and 
moved to Berlin permanently.

Maupertuis talents were indeed eclectic. He published on a range of 
subjects including mathematics, philosophy and astronomy. A hundred years 
before Darwin he almost formulated Darwin's theory of evolution. But it 
is probably the principle of least action that he is most remembered for 
now. The principle says that physical systems, in getting from state A to 
state B, always choose the path that minimises the effort required. This 
begs the question of who or what does the minimising, and the principle 
opened up all sorts of cans of teleological worms.

Maupertuis was extremely proud of his principle of least action, so it 
came as a shock when he accidentally recommended a paper for publication 
which stated that it wasn't him but Leibniz who first postulated it. The 
resulting priority dispute cast a shadow over the last years of his life 
and had an adverse effect on his health. In 1756 he left Berlin for good 
and three years later died on a journey he undertook to improve his 
health.

For more information on Maupertuis visit the MacTutor History of maths 
site: 
http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/Maupertuis.html

And for more on the principle of least action read the Plus article 
"Frugal nature" http://plus.maths.org/issue44/features/wilson/index.html

**********

Browse with Plus

The Large Hadron rap

Everything about the LHC in musical form
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=j50ZssEojtM



Higher dimensions

An excellent series of nine films taking you into the fourth dimension 
is now freely available online and cheaply available on DVD. Using superb 
graphics and clear, concise, no-frills presentation, the series starts 
with a very basic introduction to projections, then steps from two 
dimensions up into three and then four, and ends up with some quite 
sophisticated - and very pretty - geometric objects and concepts. 
Everyone, from complete novice to university students, will find 
something interesting in this series, and at 13 minutes length each, the 
films are a great resource for the class room. The website contains 
detailed background info on each episode. Go have a look, it's well worth 
it!

http://www.dimensions-math.org/

**********

Live maths

Maths on telly

BBC Four will launch a new three-part TV series on maths at 9pm this 
coming Monday the 6th of October. In The story of maths Marcus du Sautoy, 
Oxford mathematician and one of the UK's finest maths popularisers, 
describes the often surprising lives of the great mathematicians, 
explains the development of the key mathematical ideas and shows how - in 
a multitude of unusual ways - those ideas underpin the science, 
technology and culture that shape our world. The first episode will look 
at the contributions from the ancient Greeks.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00dxjls/comingup for details.


Not just about numbers

What is mathematics and why does it work? This free lecture by john D 
Barrow looks at the way mathematics can tell you things about the world 
that you cannot learn any other way: how computers have extended the reach 
of humans, the simple nature of many hard problems, how to win at dice, 
modern concepts of chaos and complexity, and whether the Premier Football 
League is just a random process after all.

When: 9th of October 2008, 1pm
Where: The Royal College of Surgeons 
            35-43 Lincoln's Inn Fields
            London WC2A 3PE
Information: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/event.asp?PageId=45&EventId=785



**********

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.