Articles by Chalkdust

Celebrate the latest issue with us in London on 28 November

Fields medals, iconic intersections, and things with silly names coming your way in our brand new issue! Plus all your favourite puzzles & columns.

Find out by answering six simple questions

Follow these simple steps to frustrate anyone who ever dreamed of using their light saber on the USS Enterprise

Have your say

The definitive chart of the best matrices

Fashion is fleeting, Chalkdust regulars are not.

Girl guides, cooking, and public transport find their way into the prof's postbox this issue.

Trippy brain massages from Sam Palmer's artwork on the front of Issue 16

We talk to four mathematicians at different stages of their careers

Hear ye! Hear ye! Chalkdust Magazine issue 16 is launching, full of mathematical joy and curiosity.

Squid Game, hidden harmonies and DnD coming your way in our brand new issue! Plus all your favourite puzzles & columns.

Win a £100 Maths Gear goody bag by solving our infamous puzzle

Weddings, holidays and catfish find their way into the prof's postbox this issue.

Can you solve it?

Are you β? Are you γ?

We announce the winner of this coveted prize

The definitive chart of the best matrices

Have your say

Fashion is fleeting, Chalkdust regulars are not.

Roll up, roll up! Squid Game, hidden harmonies and DnD coming your way in Issue 15. (Plus all the usual nonsense.)

Did you solve it?

We review the seventh of this year’s nominees for the Book of the Year

We review the sixth of this year’s nominees for the Book of the Year

We review the fifth of this year’s nominees for the Book of the Year

We review the fourth of this year’s nominees for the Book of the Year

We review the third of this year’s nominees for the Book of the Year

We review the second of this year's nominees for the Book of the Year

We review the first of this year's nominees for the Book of the Year

We announce the shortlist of our favourite maths-themed books of last year

Have your say, and help to choose the 2021 Readers' Choice

Venn diagrams, retrograde chess, and behind-the-scenes Christmas lectures all feature in our autumn 2021 edition. Plus all your favourite puzzles & columns.

Win a £100 Maths Gear goody bag by solving our infamous puzzle

Football, telly and shape-shifting houses find their way into the prof's postbox this issue.

Can you solve it?

The definitive chart of the best waves

Fashion is fleeting, Chalkdust regulars are not.

Have your say on the top ten matrices

Enter stage left: Chalkdust issue 14. Preorder now!

Did you solve it?

Did you solve it?

Sus Mafia strategies, LMS president Ulrike Tillmann, and Bae's theorem ❤️ all feature in our spring 2021 edition. Plus all your favourite puzzles & columns.

Issue 13 is here! Find out how to get involved with our mathematical art launch project

Have your say

Fashion is fleeting, Chalkdust regulars are not.

Are you binary? Roman numerals? The decimals? Find out by answering a maximum of ∞ easy questions

£100 of Maths Gear goodies to be won if you can solve it

Parishoners, partners and puzzled playwrights have written in to the professor's postbox this issue

The definitive chart of the best buttons

Looking for a challenge? Try our cryptic crossnumber—with hints and tips so anyone can have a go!

A great start to the month of Maying

We announce the winner of this coveted prize

Have your say, and help to choose the 2020 Readers' Choice

We review the seventh of this year's nominees for the Book of the Year, and open the vote for the readers' favourite

We review the sixth of this year's nominees for the Book of the Year

We review the fifth of this year's nominees for the Book of the Year

We review the fourth of this year's nominees for the Book of the Year

We review the third of this year's nominees for the Book of the Year

We review the second of this year's nominees for the Book of the Year

We review the first of this year's nominees for the Book of the Year

We announce the shortlist

We reveal the solutions to our Christmas puzzles!

Puzzle #3 in our 2020 Christmas puzzle series

Puzzle #2 in our 2020 Christmas puzzle series

Puzzle #1 in our 2020 Christmas puzzle series

Now available to catch up on YouTube

Independent Sage's Christina Pagel, hyperbolic mindfulness and make-your-own Markov tweet feature in our autumn 2020 edition. Plus all your favourite puzzles & columns.

Books, business and barns are the topics readers have sent in to the professor's postbox this issue

£100 of MathsGear goodies to be won if you can solve it

A handy tool that can make writing great tweets much easier

Fashion is fleeting, Chalkdust regulars are not.

Make your own scatterer from some old Christmas decorations

Have your say

The definitive chart of the best day trips

Humbug sets the fourth puzzle. Can you solve it?

Space-filling curves, cheating at cards and automated joke generation feature in our spring 2020 edition. Plus all your favourite puzzles & columns.

Celebrate the launch of issue 11 by taking part in our puzzle hunt

£100 of MathsGear goodies to be won if you can solve it

Are you a torus? A cone? Ed Spheran? Find out by answering a maximum of five easy questions

Grant applications, musical media and last-minute Olympics training are the topics readers have sent in to the professor's postbox this issue

Vote for your favourite maths-themed day out

Make your own Ecki

Fashion is fleeting, Chalkdust regulars are not.

The definitive chart of the best pictures of scorpions

Issue 11 of everyone's favourite magazine for the mathematically curious is coming very soon

We announce the winner of this coveted prize

Have your say, and help to choose the 2019 Readers' Choice

We review the ninth of this year's nominees for the Book of the Year

We review the eighth of this year's nominees for the Book of the Year

We review the sevnth of this year's nominees for the Book of the Year

We review the sixth of this year's nominees for the Book of the Year

We review the fifth of this year's nominees for the Book of the Year

We review the fourth of this year's nominees for the Book of the Year

We review the third of this year's nominees for the Book of the Year

We review the second of this year's nominees for the Book of the Year

We review the first of this year's nominees for the Book of the Year

We reveal the shortlist

21 simple steps to draw your own Islamic pattern!

Computational proofs, AI music and embarrassing surveys feature in the autumn 2019 issue. Plus all your favourite puzzles & columns.

Can you solve it?

Letter writing, hospital visits, and getting the family active are among the topics of discussion in this issue's Dear Dirichlet advice column

How do you like your numbers? Prime? Positive but infinitely small? Find out which famous mathematician you are

Fashion is fleeting, Chalkdust regulars are not.

The definitive chart of the best issues of Chalkdust

Vote for your favourite picture of a scorpion

Tasty and mathematical

Come along to our launch party for free pizza and the real quiz

A podcast for the mathematically curious

Ride a phantom parabola into our spring 2019 issue. Billiards, maths, tiles, mistakes, plus all your favourite regulars.

Coffee, Brexit and badgers are among the topics of discussion in this issue's Dear Dirichlet advice column

Mystic mug has some predictions for you...

The definitive chart of the best Chalkdust regulars

Your guide to creating the optimal homepage

Fashion is fleeting, Chalkdust regulars are not.

Are you u or i? Am I? Who?

Vote for your favourite Chalkdust issue

Read the magazine, and come to the launch party!

A podcast for the mathematically curious

A podcast for the mathematically curious

Looking back at puzzles about complex numbers, tic-tac-toe, and the Eggnog Mystery

Win this year's best book of geometry puzzles

Win a DVD boxset from Festival of the spoken nerd in our first Christmas competition!

A podcast for the mathematically curious

Surprise yourself by making this thing

Swing on a magnetic pendulum into our autumn 2018 issue. Topological tic-tac-toe, maths, cake, categories, plus all your favourite regulars.

Win £100 of Maths Gear goodies by solving our famously fiendish crossnumber

See what we're doing this October to promote and celebrate diversity in mathematics

Are you perfect or imaginary? Are you a square?

Village fetes, Brexit and flowers are among the topics of discussion in this issue's Dear Dirichlet advice column

The definitive chart of the best units

Vote for your favourite Chalkdust regular

Fashion is fleeting, Chalkdust regulars are not.

You'll never believe number 3!

Join us at our upcoming launch party!

A collection of our favourite and least favourite things named after Euler, from issue 07

Think outside outside the box in our spring 2018 issue. No more tennis puns, primes mod 4, plus all your favourite regulars.

Pigs, popes and produce are among the topics of discussion in this issue's Dear Dirichlet advice column

Win £100 of Maths Gear goodies by solving our famously fiendish crossnumber

The definitive chart of the best dates

Race to be the first to get five-in-a-row

Vote for your favourite unit

Make a catastrophe machine just like Zeeman's

Fashion is fleeting, Chalkdust regulars are not.

You won't believe number 5!

Join us at our upcoming launch party!

A fiendish puzzle for you to 'pour' over...

What have we been up to this year?

As the festive season strikes again, we'll be dishing out more fiendish puzzles – this time with prizes!

Cardioids in coffee cups, counting with three fingers, and breakfast at Villani's. Plus the return of all your favourite fun pages in our autumn 2017 issue.

Win £100 of Maths Gear goodies by solving our famously fiendish crossnumber

Prof. Dirichlet tackles archaeology and supercomputers in answering your personal problems

"R" you a Matlab or a Python? Fortran or Mathematica? Find out which package suits you best.

The definitive chart of the best tools

Mathematical fashion advice for an ever-changing world

Vote for your favourite mathematical celebration day

A great way to waste a lot of paper

How many did you spot?

Free launch party, 7.15pm. Come along!

Have a go at these puzzles, adequate for your holidays!

Read about our least favourite numbers in this collection from issue 5!

Graphical linear algebra, slide rules and game theory in nature. Plus all your favourite fun pages in our spring 2017 issue.

Win £100 of Maths Gear goodies by solving our famously fiendish crossnumber

Mathematical fashion advice for an ever-changing world

Prof. Dirichlet tackles political arguments and werewolves in answering your personal problems

Solve the puzzles that appeared in Issue 05.

How to model bread making!

Are you feeling ideal? In your prime? Discover your inner mathematical object (plus handy term explainer).

Make calculations easy with this simple-to-make slide rule

The definitive chart of the circle's greatest parts

Vote for your favourite geometry instrument

The answers to the puzzles that appeared in issue 05

Free launch party, 7.15pm. Come along! Free copies of Chalkdust, free pizza, and buy your own Chalkdust T-shirt.

Here are some highlights of the first two years of Chalkdust!

It's the last day of the Chalkdust advent calendar, so there must be something very good behind today's door...

Here we have collected our favourite sets, from the Mandelbrot set to the Mahut-Isner set!

Vote for your favourite part of a circle

Problem solving 101, proof by storytelling, plus the return of all your favourite fun pages in our autumn 2016 edition.

Follow our flowchart to find out where your true calling is

Don't be left behind... more mathematical fashion advice

Win £100 of maths goodies in our fiendish crossnumber

Solve the puzzles that appeared in Issue 04.

How to make mathematical crochet

The definitive chart of chalk's greatest colours

The geometry of psychedelic hallucinations

Can you solve it?

Moonlighting agony uncle Prof. Dirichlet answers more of your personal problems

Tuesday 11 October, 7.15pm. Come along! Featuring hundreds of free copies of Chalkdust, free pizza, and the chance to purchase a Chalkdust T-shirt.

Paper cups do not follow a hexagonal pattern and the cones do not meet at a single point, but they do make a gigantic sphere

The Chalkdust team set you a challenge, for which the prize is a £25 Amazon voucher...

Read ours then send us your favourites!

Warning: Contains SPOILERS!

Make an amazing three faced hexagon

Vote for your favourite colour of chalk for Issue 04: is it white, yellow, or the Post Office Tower?

Maths is a fickle world. Stay à la mode with our guide to the latest trends.

Solve the puzzles that appeared in Issue 03.

Print out and make a flexagon

Ever been stuck in motorway traffic which seems to have no reason? A model for traffic flow explains why.

Prof. Dirichlet tackles deaf colleagues and cold badgers.

Be in for a chance to win a £100 goody bag if you can solve our fiendish crossnumber

Find out what the future holds for you... or maybe just a box of scorpions.

Are you a FX-82 or an FX-85 fan?

Fractional calculus, counting divisors, whether voting can ever be fair and much more

Your first peek at our Spring issue

Agony uncle Professor Dirichlet answers your personal problems this Valentine's Day.

Make the perfect gift for your loved one

Have you read the best of the blog?

Agony uncle Professor Dirichlet answers your personal problems this Christmastime.

(1925 - 2015)

Because we love functions!

The joy of Jacobians, the perils of p-values, and a chat in the pub with Fields medallist Artur Avila

Moonlighting agony uncle Professor Dirichlet answers your personal problems.

It's time to reveal the Top Ten Symbols in Algebra!

We tell you what's popular in the world of maths, so you can get ahead of the curve!

Meet the Duckworth-Lewis method, 23, from Lancashire

Win £100 in our famous original crossnumber

Find out what's going to be inside

These puzzles appeared in the Chalkdust newsletters. You can find the answers here and sign up for the newsletter here.

These are the answers to puzzles that appeared in the Chalkdust newsletters. You can find the puzzles here and sign up for the newsletter here.

Are you a winner?

These puzzles appeared in Issue 01 of the magazine.

Favourite numbers for many are linked to birthdays or anniversaries, but here is our take on the question

The perfect game of Pac-Man, the maths of wormholes, and Anna talking at Hannah Fry

Every issue we feature another great model on page 3 of our magazine. This time we look at what to do when zombies attack.

Moonlighting agony uncle Professor Dirichlet answers our readers' personal problems.

Be the envy of your friends with our guide to what's hot in maths right now

The undisputed Top Ten Mathematicians' Haircuts!

Our original £100 prize crossnumber. Download and enjoy!

These solutions relate to puzzles found in Issue 01 of the magazine.