Katie has a PhD in maths, specializing in the intersection of dynamical systems and number theory. She reports on topics from maths and history to society and animals. Katie has a PhD in maths, ...

You're currently following this author! Want to unfollow? Unsubscribe via the link in your email. There are infinitely many numbers, and infinitely many ways to combine and manipulate those numbers.

The transcendental number π is as familiar as it is ubiquitous, but how does Euler’s number e transcend the ordinary? 4 pieces: 2.5 × 2.5 × 2.5 × 2.5 = 39.06 5 pieces: 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 = 32 6 pieces: ...

At the playground on the leafy campus of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, one afternoon in May, the mathematician Akshay Venkatesh alternated between pushing his 4-year-old ...