There are few things more pleasing to your average mathematician than when a result surprises you. Take e, for example – a ...

Most people probably don’t think of mathematics when they hear “busy beavers.” But these eager little animals symbolize one of the most amazing concepts of the knotty field: not everything can be ...

Mathematicians used “magic functions” to prove that two highly symmetric lattices solve a myriad of problems in eight- and 24-dimensional space. The points could be an infinite collection of electrons ...

Introducing new math concepts via already-worked examples can give students a significant boost in learning. But choosing the right problems makes a big difference. An analysis earlier this year of ...

About 10 years ago, Alan Garfinkel, a professor in the life sciences department at the University of California, Los Angeles, got a call. It was from his dean, who said that the department had ...

My 2nd grader finishes his math enrichment, then gleefully creates blank versions for his dad and me to try: a subtraction-based, number-placement logic puzzle, intended to be challenging. My husband ...