Read Issue 09 now!

by Chalkdust. Published on 14 March 2019.

Our latest edition, Issue 09, is available now. Enjoy the articles online or scroll down to view the magazine as a PDF.

Features

When Truchet met Chladni
Stephen Muirhead meets neither, as he explores waves, tiles and percolation theory
Playing billiards with cue-bics
Yuliya Nesterova misses all the pockets, but does manage to solve some cubics
Hiding in plain sight
Axel Kerbec gets locked out while exchanging keys
In conversation with Matt Parker
Interviewing Matt was a mistake
Oπnions: Can a horse have an Erdős number?
Lucy Rycroft-Smith reflects on the use of this well-established measurement
On the cover: Harriss spiral
Find out more about the spiral trees on the cover of Issue 09
Bells, braids and taxicabs
An adventure that starts with a morning of bell ringing and ends with a mad dash in a taxi
The phantom parabola
Zoe Griffiths investigates paranormal quadratics
Counting caterpillars
Peter Rowlett uses combinatorics to generate caterpillars
Striking the right chord
How big are these random shapes? Submit an answer for a chance to win a prize!

Fun

Prize crossnumber, Issue 09
Win £100 of Maths Gear goodies by solving our famously fiendish crossnumber
Dear Dirichlet, Issue 09
Coffee, Brexit and badgers are among the topics of discussion in this issue's Dear Dirichlet advice column
Horoscope, Issue 09
Mystic mug has some predictions for you...
Top Ten: Chalkdust regulars
The definitive chart of the best Chalkdust regulars
Academic webpage checklist
Your guide to creating the optimal homepage
What’s hot and what’s not, Issue 09
Fashion is fleeting, Chalkdust regulars are not.
Which symbol are you?
Are you u or i? Am I? Who?
Top ten vote issue 09
Vote for your favourite Chalkdust issue
Page 3 model: Game of Thrones
Using graph theory to predict who will sit the iron throne

Printed versions

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Read Issue 08 now!

by Chalkdust. Published on 18 October 2018.

Our latest edition, Issue 08, is available now. Enjoy the articles online or scroll down to view the magazine as a PDF.

Features

In conversation with Eugenia Cheng
We chat to the author of the best-selling book How to Bake Pi and pioneer of maths on YouTube
Too good to be Truchet
Colin Beveridge looks at different designs for 2- and 3-dimensional tiles
Topological tic-tac-toe
Alex Bolton plays noughts and crosses on unusual surfaces
Somewhere over the critical line
Read about Maxamillion Polignac's adventures in a prime-hating world
Mathematics and art: the ELHP
Adam Atkinson uses maths to try to help a sculptor
On the cover: Hydrogen orbitals
Find out more about the weird shapes on the cover of Issue 08
What is the point of intersection?
Elizabeth A Williams falls off a log
Roots: Gerolamo Cardano
Emma Bell explains why the Renaissance mathematician Gerolamo Cardano styled himself as the "man of discoveries".
An invitation to category theory
Just what is category theory? Tai-Danae Bradley explains
Significant figures: Katherine Johnson
Biography of Katherine Johnson, NASA human computer and research mathematician
The magnetic pendulum
A tabletop demonstration of chaos.

Fun

How to make: a Möbius Surprise
Surprise yourself by making this thing
Hilbert’s hotel: the board game
Print it out and play against your friends!
Prize crossnumber, Issue 08
Win £100 of Maths Gear goodies by solving our famously fiendish crossnumber
Which number are you?
Are you perfect or imaginary? Are you a square?
Dear Dirichlet, Issue 08
Village fetes, Brexit and flowers are among the topics of discussion in this issue's Dear Dirichlet advice column
Top Ten: Units of measurement
The definitive chart of the best units
Top ten vote issue 08
Vote for your favourite Chalkdust regular
I ❤️ maths
Tired of hearing people ask which area of maths is your favourite? Get one of these tattooed on your forehead and you'll never be asked again...
Page 3 model: Ponytails
Many mysteries about hair are now revealed with the ponytail shape equation
What’s hot and what’s not, issue 08
Fashion is fleeting, Chalkdust regulars are not.

Printed versions

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Issue 07

by Chalkdust. Published on 12 March 2018.

Our latest edition, Issue 07, is available now. Enjoy the articles online or scroll down to view the magazine as a PDF.

Features

Game, set, maths (no more tennis puns)
No more Katie Steckles.
Thinking outside outside the box
Rob Eastaway joins the dots.
Baking a Menger sponge sponge
Sam Hartburn bakes your favourite fractal
e to thee x
Zoe Griffiths on the life of e
Adventures in Chance-ylvania
High stakes gambling with Paula Rowińska
Counting palindromes
Alex Xela shows us the world of palindromic numbers, and calculates the chances of getting one
Routes: Edsger Dijkstra
In this edition of the series, we instead learn about 'routes' and Edsger Dijkstra's shortest path algorithm.
On the cover: Chladni figures of a square drum
Find out more about the patterns on the cover of Issue 07
Significant figures: Sir Christopher Zeeman
Biography of Sir Christopher Zeeman
Primes à la Euler
Infinitely many primes ending in 1, 3, 7 and 9 proved in typically Eulerian style.
Machine learning 101
Start your quest to conquer the planet with this introduction to the wonderful world of machine learning
Mike Jordan on machine learning
Undoubtedly the most influential voice on this hottest of hot topics.
Domino tiling & domineering
John Dore and Chris Woodcock join the dots
In conversation with Chris Budd
We chat to one of the UK's most qualified voices in mathematics communication

Fun

Dear Dirichlet, Issue 07
Pigs, popes and produce are among the topics of discussion in this issue's Dear Dirichlet advice column
Prize crossnumber, Issue 07
Win £100 of Maths Gear goodies by solving our famously fiendish crossnumber
Comic: The Inverse Homotopy, part 6
Part 6 of our mathematical comic's adventure
Top Ten: Mathematical celebration days
The definitive chart of the best dates
Conference bingo
Race to be the first to get five-in-a-row
How to make: a catastrophe machine
Make a catastrophe machine just like Zeeman's
Page 3 model: Frictional unemployment
Modelling unemployment using simple differential equations!
What’s hot and what’s not, issue 07
Fashion is fleeting, Chalkdust regulars are not.

Printed versions

Download Issue 07 as a PDF

Issue 06

by Chalkdust. Published on 19 October 2017.

Issue 06 was released on 19 October 2017. Enjoy the articles online or scroll down to view the magazine as a PDF.

Features

In conversation with Cédric Villani
We feel underdressed for Breakfast at Villani's
Cardioids in coffee cups
Staring at your coffee, you wonder whether the light reflecting in cup really is a cardioid curve...
Mathematics for the three-fingered mathematician
Robert J Low flips one upside down.
The mathematics of Maryam Mirzakhani
We take a proper look at her mathematical accomplishments
Biography of Sophie Bryant
A biography of Sophie Bryant
Geographic profiling
Murder, maths, malaria and mammals
Roots: Blaise Pascal
Blaise Pascal was driven to begin the mechanisation of mathematics by his father's struggles with an accounts book in 17th century France.
On the cover: Euclidean Egg III
Euclidean Egg III makes the cover of issue 06!
Pretty pictures in the complex plane
Contemplate the beauty of the Julia and Mandelbrot sets and an elegant mathematical explanation of them
Pretend numbers
20 questions, the axiom of choice and colouring sequences.

Fun

Prize crossnumber, Issue 06
Win £100 of Maths Gear goodies by solving our famously fiendish crossnumber
Dear Dirichlet, Issue 06
Prof. Dirichlet tackles archaeology and supercomputers in answering your personal problems
Comic: The Inverse Homotopy, part 5
Part 5 of our mathematical comic's adventure
Which mathematical software are you?
"R" you a Matlab or a Python? Fortran or Mathematica? Find out which package suits you best.
Top Ten: Geometry instruments
The definitive chart of the best tools
What’s hot and what’s not, Issue 06
Mathematical fashion advice for an ever-changing world
Top ten vote issue 06
Vote for your favourite mathematical celebration day
Page 3 model: Crowd control
Modelling a Saturday afternoon on Oxford Street
How to make: a hyperbolic plane
A great way to waste a lot of paper

Printed versions

Download Issue 06 as a PDF

Issue 05

by Chalkdust. Published on 6 March 2017.

Our latest edition, Issue 05, is available now. Enjoy the articles online or scroll down to view the magazine as a PDF.

Features

In conversation with Bernard Silverman
We chat to the chief scientific advisor to the Home Office about the role of scientists and mathematicians in politics
Linear algebra… with diagrams
Rediscover linear algebra by playing with circuit diagrams
Debugging insect dynamics
Explain the strange dynamics of certain insects using game theory
Variations on Fermat: an agony in four fits
Fermat's Last Theorem with complex powers, wrapped in a story every mathematician can relate to
Slide rules: the early calculators
When slide rules used to rule... find out why they still do
The simplest difficult task
Factorisation is often used in cryptography. But there's something even simpler which turns out to be just as hard.
Origami tesseract
Folding origami, building networks, making projections and multiple dimensions!
Florence Nightingale, statistician
What is the real story behind the lady with the lamp?
Roots: Mary Somerville
Mary Somerville fights against social mores to become one of the leading mathematicians of her time.
On the cover: dragon curves
Read more about the fire-breathing curves that appear on the cover of issue 05

Fun

Prize crossnumber, Issue 05
Win £100 of Maths Gear goodies by solving our famously fiendish crossnumber
What’s hot and what’s not, Issue 05
Mathematical fashion advice for an ever-changing world
Dear Dirichlet, Issue 05
Prof. Dirichlet tackles political arguments and werewolves in answering your personal problems
Comic: The Inverse Homotopy, part 4
Part 4 of our mathematical comic's adventure
Puzzles, Issue 05
Solve the puzzles that appeared in Issue 05.
Page 3 model
How to model bread making!
Which mathematical object are you?
Are you feeling ideal? In your prime? Discover your inner mathematical object (plus handy term explainer).
How to make: a slide rule
Make calculations easy with this simple-to-make slide rule
Top Ten: Parts of a circle
The definitive chart of the circle's greatest parts
Top ten vote issue 05
Vote for your favourite geometry instrument
Puzzle Solutions, Issue 05
The answers to the puzzles that appeared in issue 05

Printed versions

Download Issue 05 as a PDF

Issue 04

by Chalkdust. Published on 3 October 2016.

Issue 04 was released on 4 October 2016. Enjoy the articles online or scroll down to view the magazine as a PDF.

Features

Problem solving 101
Never be stumped by a maths problem again, with this crash course from the ever-competent Stephen Muirhead
Hedy Lamarr: Hollywood star and secret inventor
James Grime gets intimate with 'the most beautiful woman in the world' from the golden age of Hollywood
The doodle theorem, and beyond…
Colin Wright juggles Euler, doodling and Millennium problems
Prime jewellery
Make your own treasures, guaranteed to be priceless on a future episode of Antiques Roadshow
Roots: Pythagoras of Samos
Pythagoras gave us so much more than a² + b² = c²
Mathematics: queen of the arts?
Exploring the connection between maths and art.
Proof by storytelling
Sit in your favourite chair and do away with those tedious algebraic proofs
The Buckingham π theorem and the atomic bomb
Diego Carranza tells you to stop worrying and dimensionally analyse the bomb
In conversation with Andrea Bertozzi
We chat to Andrea about crime, maths and her fluid career

Fun

Top ten vote issue 04
Vote for your favourite part of a circle
Where do you belong? (Mathematically speaking)
Follow our flowchart to find out where your true calling is
Comic: The Inverse Homotopy, part 3
Part 3 of our mathematical comic's adventure
What’s hot and what’s not, Issue 04
Don't be left behind... more mathematical fashion advice
Puzzles, Issue 04
Solve the puzzles that appeared in Issue 04.
How to make: mathematical crochet
How to make mathematical crochet
Top Ten: Colours of chalk
The definitive chart of chalk's greatest colours
Page 3 model: Hallucinations
The geometry of psychedelic hallucinations
Prize crossnumber, Issue 04
Can you solve it?
Dear Dirichlet, Issue 04
Moonlighting agony uncle Prof. Dirichlet answers more of your personal problems

Printed versions

Download Issue 04 as a PDF

Issue 03

by Chalkdust. Published on 13 March 2016.

Issue 03 was released in March 2016. Enjoy the articles online or scroll down to view the magazine as a PDF.

Features

Analogue computing: fun with differential equations
Solving differential equations instantaneously, using some electrical components and an oscilloscope
Roots: the legacy of Fibonacci
More than spirals and rabbits, Fibonacci gave us something much more fundamental.
The Mathematical Games of Martin Gardner
The great contributions of the man who started popular mathematics
Spherical Dendrite by Mark J Stock
The story behind Issue 3's cover artwork
You can count on Dirichlet
Counting the divisors of an integer turns out to be a rather hard problem
A mathematical view of voting systems
Why voting systems can never be fair
Menace: the Machine Educable Noughts And Crosses Engine
Teaching a bunch of matchboxes how to play tic-tac-toe
Fractional calculus: the calculus of witchcraft and wizardry
How can we differentiate a function 9¾ times?
In conversation with Ian Stewart
We speak to one of Britain's most successful popularisers of maths

Fun

How to make: a hexaflexagon
Make an amazing three faced hexagon
Top Ten vote: Colours of chalk
Vote for your favourite colour of chalk for Issue 04: is it white, yellow, or the Post Office Tower?
What’s hot and what’s not, Issue 03
Maths is a fickle world. Stay à la mode with our guide to the latest trends.
Puzzles, Issue 03
Solve the puzzles that appeared in Issue 03.
Page 3 model: Traffic flow
Ever been stuck in motorway traffic which seems to have no reason? A model for traffic flow explains why.
Dear Dirichlet, Issue 03
Prof. Dirichlet tackles deaf colleagues and cold badgers.
Prize crossnumber, Issue 03
Be in for a chance to win a £100 goody bag if you can solve our fiendish crossnumber
Horoscope, Issue 03
Find out what the future holds for you... or maybe just a box of scorpions.
Comic: The Inverse Homotopy, part 2
Part 2 of our mathematical comic's adventure
Top Ten: Calculators
Are you a FX-82 or an FX-85 fan?

Printed versions

Download Issue 03 as a PDF

Issue 02

by Chalkdust. Published on 9 October 2015.

Issue 02 was released in October 2015. Enjoy the articles online or scroll down to view the magazine as a PDF.

Features

John Forbes Nash: the legacy
Exploring the legacy of John Nash (1928 – 2015)
Fermat Point by Suman Vaze
The maths behind Issue 02's cover
In conversation with Artur Avila
Chatting with a Fields Medallist in a Leicester Square pub
The joys of the Jacobian
Robert Smith? tells us how his favourite matrix saves lives
The Mpemba paradox
Why does warm water freeze faster than cold water?
Breaking out of the prisoner’s dilemma
What happens if you play the prisoners' dilemma against yourself?
The perils of p-values
David Colquhoun explains why more discoveries are false than you thought
Roots: All things being equal
The story of how we got the equals sign
Fractograms
Hugh Duncan explores the hidden patterns of fractions

Fun

Dear Dirichlet, Issue 02
Moonlighting agony uncle Professor Dirichlet answers your personal problems.
Top Ten: Mathematical symbols
It's time to reveal the Top Ten Symbols in Algebra!
What’s hot and what’s not, Issue 02
We tell you what's popular in the world of maths, so you can get ahead of the curve!
Comic: The Inverse Homotopy, part 1
Continue the journey of the Inverse Homotopy...
Page 3 model: The Duckworth–Lewis method
Meet the Duckworth-Lewis method, 23, from Lancashire
£100 Prize Crossnumber, Issue 02
Win £100 in our famous original crossnumber
Puzzles, Issue 02
These puzzles appeared in Issue 02 of the magazine.

Printed versions

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Issue 01

by Chalkdust. Published on 24 March 2015.

Issue 01 was released in March 2015. Enjoy the articles online or scroll down to view the magazine as a PDF.

Features

Optimal Pac-Man
Matthew Scroggs spends too much time beating this arcade classic.
Reinventing 2D: What a difference a matrix makes
How derivatives of matrices are being used in your day-to-day lives
Music playlists, Facebook and Twitter
Here is a very exciting way to measure how similar is your music playlist between your friends, or how similar are your Facebook contacts.
In conversation with Hannah Fry
On the mathematics of love, communicating maths to the public, and women in maths.
A Fields Medal at UCL: Klaus Roth
Klaus Roth and his work
The Symposium of the Muses
The resultant art is the outcome and purpose that elevates and distinguishes the science.
Interstellar travel: the mathematics of wormholes
Matthew Wright looks at wormholes in sci-fi

Fun

Puzzles, Issue 01
These puzzles appeared in Issue 01 of the magazine.
Page 3 model: When zombies attack
Every issue we feature another great model on page 3 of our magazine. This time we look at what to do when zombies attack.
Dear Dirichlet, Issue 01
Moonlighting agony uncle Professor Dirichlet answers our readers' personal problems.
What’s hot and what’s not, Issue 01
Be the envy of your friends with our guide to what's hot in maths right now
Top Ten: Mathematicians’ haircuts
The undisputed Top Ten Mathematicians' Haircuts!
£100 Prize Crossnumber, Issue 01
Our original £100 prize crossnumber. Download and enjoy!
Puzzle solutions, Issue 01
These solutions relate to puzzles found in Issue 01 of the magazine.

Printed versions

Download Issue 01 as a PDF