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- Calculating Using Dates AD and BC [11/25/2003]
How do you calculate how many years there are between dates where one
is given in years B.C. and the other is in years A.D.? For example,
how many years were there from 15 B.C. to 63 A.D.?
- Calculator Addition [6/30/1996]
How does a calculator add?
- Chinese Rod-Numeral System [11/09/1998]
How exactly does the Chinese rod-numeral system work?
- Collapsible Compass [01/23/2002]
How did the early Greek mathematicians reproduce lengths with a
- Commas and Decimal Points in Currency Notations [11/08/2007]
Why do Europeans use the comma in currency amounts instead of the
decimal point as in the United States?
- Completing the Cube [11/28/1996]
Is there some method analogous to completing the square for higher
- Compounding Interest and e [11/11/1998]
How is the number e derived from compounding interest? Does it come from
the series expansion of e?
- Contribution of Romans in Math History [12/18/2006]
How did the Romans contribute to math? What did they add to
mathematics besides Roman numerals?
- Converting from Hindu-Arabic Numerals to Roman Numerals [05/18/1999]
A conversion table, and recommendations for using bars over Roman
numerals, with examples.
- Converting Julian Date to Gregorian [03/20/2001]
Assume that the base date is 01/01/0001 and that a Gregorian date is
expressed as DD/MM/YYYY...
- Counting Number Angles [10/13/2002]
I am trying to find the history of counting number angles.
- Counting Sheep the Traditional Way [10/13/2003]
Do you know anything interesting about mathematics in England, say
from 400 to 1200 AD?
- Dealing with the Formal Presentation of Mathematics [03/22/2008]
Why do so many of today's mathematicians present their work in such a
formal way, hiding their ideas behind all sorts of notation,
definitions and the like? Why is there so little explanation of the
ideas and concepts? I like math, but I find this aspect of it very
- Decimals and Roman Numerals [10/22/1998]
Is there any notation for fractions in Roman numerals?
- Decimal System [08/12/2003]
Why the decimal system? Why not 12 as the base number?
- Dedekind Cuts [10/23/1996]
What is a Dedekind cut?
- Definitions of Rational, Irrational, and Mathematics [5/9/1995]
Why are rational and irrational numbers called by those names? Also, how
do you define Mathematics?
- The Degree Symbol [11/02/1998]
Do you know what the degree symbol stands for? What is its history?
- Deriving Pi [05/10/2001]
I know that Pi is equivalent to 3.14, but what formulas are used to come
up with 3.14?
- Development of Einstein's Equation [06/02/1999]
What equations and principles did Einstein use to come up with the
equation e = mc^2?
- Did Pi Ruin Socrates' Career? [11/3/1994]
This is a math history question. Is it true that Socrates is believed to
have been imprisoned for teaching the existence of pi? I understand that
the belief in, or the teaching of, the existence of pi was considered
heresy in his day.
- Does Trying to Square a Circle Cause an Illness? [03/14/2006]
I've heard that people thought that trying to square a circle was an
illness. What was that illness called?
- Do Pyramids Really Exist? [02/27/2002]
If the base of an isosceles triangle is 4, and the height is 5, then the
sides are equal to the square root of 21. How can this triangle exist
(except in theory) if you can never measure or draw the square root of
- Early Development of Geometry [2/5/1996]
I am trying to find some parallels between the East and the West in the
development of early geometry.
- Egyptian Fractions [03/21/1999]
Can you help me understand Egyptian fractions?
- The Egyptians' Method of False Position [01/16/2003]
How does the method of false position work?
- Einstein and Math [3/4/1995]
I have to give a presentation to my class on Albert Einstein and I
wondered if you could give me some information on how he related to math
- Etruscan Origins of Roman Numerals [12/07/2003]
In Roman numerals, what do the letters stand for? Are there words that
they come from?
- Etymologies of Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry [10/22/2001]
What are the origins and roots of the words geometry, algebra, and
- Etymology of 'Asymptote' [05/13/2002]
Where does the term 'asymptote' come from?
- Euclid [8/23/1996]
Who is considered the father of mathematics?
- Euler's Faith and Folly [03/25/2011]
What did Euler wrongly assume when he first derived pi^2/6 from the infinite sum of 1/n^2? Doctor Jordan reveals two missteps initially committed by the famous mathematician on this now-classic result.
- Facts about e [11/09/1998]
Where does the number "e" come from and what uses does it have in the
- Fermat's Last Theorem [2/15/1995]
What is the latest with Fermat's Last Theorem?
- Fermat's Last Theorem [3/19/1995]
Is is true that the second rule of Fermat has been proved?
- Fermat's Last Theorem [6/27/1995]
I read recently in a computer magazine that someone from England has
proved Fermat's last theorem. Could you send me more details?
- Fermat's Last Theorem [5/26/1996]
Have mathmaticians really proved Fermat's Last Theorem?
- Fermat's Theorem [01/21/1998]
Why was Fermat's Theorem such a mystery?
- Fibonacci [01/31/1997]
Where can I learn more about Leonard of Pisa?
- First Calculation of E [12/18/1997]
How did Euler first calculate the value of e?