Math isn’t often thought of as a tool for social justice. But mathematical thinking can help us understand what’s going on in society too, says mathematician Eugenia Cheng. For example, abstract math ...

Several fields of mathematics have developed in total isolation, using their own 'undecipherable' coded languages. Mathematicians now present 'big algebras,' a two-way mathematical 'dictionary' ...

The Hechinger Report covers one topic: education. Sign up for our newsletters to have stories delivered to your inbox. Consider becoming a member to support our nonprofit journalism. Abstract, pure ...

Every pure mathematician has experienced that awkward moment when asked, “So what’s your research good for?” There are standard responses: a proud “Nothing!”; an explanation that mathematical research ...

I would lump mathematics in a similar category to language, art, music, etc. – inventions of the human mind that are highly relevant and meaningful to our species, but have no reality otherwise. It is ...

Why is mathematics so complicated? It’s a question many students will ask while grappling with a particularly complex calculus problem — and their teachers will probably echo while setting or marking ...

Lashi Bandara is affiliated with Australian National University. These are questions I’m often confronted with when people discover I do pure mathematics. I always manage to provide an answer but it ...

A 3D-printed decuplet crystal, skeleton, and nerves of a big algebra designed by Daniel Bedats. Printed with the Stratasys J750 3D printer at ISTA’s Miba Machine Shop. Symmetry is not just a question ...