Bayes’s Theorem: the mathematical formula that ‘explains the world’
An obscure 18th-century Presbyterian minister’s insights into statistics are still valued today in making strategic economic decisions and forecasts
In the library of Babel
Sarah Hart discusses the Oulipo group, Jorge Luis Borges and Eleanor Catton among other writers who have explored the use of mathematics in their works
The problem of our insignificance
Alexander Masters examines the top down cosmology proposed by Stephen Hawking and Thomas Hertog
Small things misbehaving
Helgoland is a craggy German island in the North Sea. Barely bigger than a few fields, it reaches high above…
Cosmic cataclysm
Alexander Masters speculates on how the universe will end
There’s nothing wrong with plugging a friend’s book
The advantage of reviewing books by a friend is that you can invite him out for a walk across the…
In the sky with diamonds
The beliefs of physicists are infinitely kookier than anything in the Bible, says Alexander Masters
A load of old Boltzmann
I’ve got a mathematical problem. Birth of a Theorem is by one of the great geniuses of today, a cosmopolitan,…
Diary
Two million pounds can buy you consideration for a place on a medical trial! Every year untold numbers of potential…
