Robert Recorde, Inventor of the Equals Sign
Why did this brilliant mind end his days in prison?
Why did this brilliant mind end his days in prison?
Can a little calculus make a total novice into a gambling pro? Mental Floss did the homework and took a trip to Atlantic City to find out.
The only winning move is not to play (because the game is rigged).
An Oxford University researcher has developed an equation to debunk some of the world's biggest conspiracy theories.
It was an era in NASA's early development when, as mathematician Katherine G. Johnson put it, “the computer wore a skirt.”
Calculations etched onto four stone tablets change the timeline of astronomy.
The person who discovered it broke his previous record by over five million digits.
Using data from the 2004 American Time Use Survey, statistician Nathan Yau created a simulation of an average 24 hours in the lives of 1000 Americans.
It's not hard to wrap a box if you don't care how much wrapping paper or tape you use, but what if you care about efficiency? What if your aim is to use only what you need?
A group of researchers at the University of Alberta have developed what may be the first mathematical theory of humor, all thanks to a funny-sounding nonsense word: snunkoople.
What's the most symmetrical geometric shape?
On a recent advanced math exam in Scotland, one question was particularly challenging.
How many piano tuners are there in the city of Chicago?
Professor Frank Drake proposed a super-depressing formula explaining why we haven't gotten alien radio signals yet.
People could only submit their resumes after they solved two math puzzles.
Shorter school weeks help cut overhead costs. But how do they affect kids?
Once upon a time, a calculator watch cost more a year at Harvard.
A cosmologist speculates about the size and weight of your average (hypothetical) alien.
Between the highest number you can count to and infinity are many enormous numbers that are incomprehensible to the human mind.