Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Irrational numbers such as pi or the square root of 2 have always fascinated humankind. After all, they symbolize infinity better ...

What is the most bizarre real number that you can imagine? Probably many people think of an irrational number such as pi (π) or Euler’s number. And indeed, such values can be considered “wild.” After ...

Katie has a PhD in maths, specializing in the intersection of dynamical systems and number theory. She reports on topics from maths and history to society and animals. Katie has a PhD in maths, ...

The exact story is contested, but in every version, it has a grim ending. A man discovers a new mathematical truth and loses his life for it. In every version of the narrative, the ancient Greek ...

When my students grow too dependent on their calculators, I ask them to find a number that, when multiplied by itself, gives them 2. Students quickly see that since 1² = 1 and 2² = 4, the answer has ...

In the early 1970s mathematician Donald Knuth spent a sabbatical with his wife in Norway. The time was meant to be spent relaxing. Yet one night he woke up his partner in a state of agitation. He ...