Mathematics

A little high school geometry can help you understand the basic math behind movie recommendation engines.

Two women programmers played a pivotal role in the birth of chaos theory. Their previously untold story illustrates the changing status of computation in science.

To minimize brain strain when thinking recursively, start simply, look for a pattern and let the pattern do the work.

Mathematicians used “magic functions” to prove that two highly symmetric lattices solve a myriad of problems in eight- and 24-dimensional space.

It’s an educated guess, not a proof. But a good conjecture will guide math forward, pointing the way into the mathematical unknown.

Mathematicians have found that materials conduct electricity when electrons follow a universal mathematical pattern.

Quantum computers can’t selectively forget information. A new algorithm for multiplication shows a way around that problem.

Solve a linguistic whodunit about a college mascot by thinking like a self-referencing computer subroutine.

By chopping up large numbers into smaller ones, researchers have rewritten a fundamental mathematical speed limit.