Mathematician

A Harvard Mathematician Has Basically Solved an Epic, 150-Year-Old Chess Problem

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On one level, chess seems like a simple game: 64 individual black or white squares, 16 pieces per side, and two competitors striving for conquest. Dig a little deeper though, and the game offers incredibly complex possibilities, posing challenges to chess theorists and mathematicians that can go unsolved for decades or even centuries.   In … Read more

What if Math Is a Fundamental Part of Nature, Not Something Humans Came Up With?

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Nature is an unstoppable force, and a beautiful one at that. Everywhere you look, the natural world is laced with stunning patterns that can be described with mathematics. From bees to blood vessels, ferns to fangs, math can explain how such beauty emerges.   Math is often described this way, as a language or a … Read more

Ada Lovelace | Mathematician and first computer programmer

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Acclaimed as a mathematical genius, Ada Lovelace is said to have understood the potential of the first computer blueprints better than their inventor. A serendipitous friendship with the mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer Charles Babbage brought her in contact with his early ideas for mechanical calculators and a preliminary prototype for a general-purpose computer. … Read more