The mathematician is mightier than the spy?
Traditional military intelligence was failing to determine the true numbers of tanks produced by Germany’s factories. The Allies needed reliable information on the numbers of new Mark IV and V tanks being produced. Mathematicians showed that all you needed was a serial number.
Read the whole postNYMag doesn’t understand math(s)
Regular readers of the Whizz blog will know that some things have a habit of getting up the God of Whizz‘s nose, and coverage of mathematics in the media is one such.
Read the whole postAlan, Marcus and Monty learn about probabilities
Humans find probability hard, and what we tend to think of as ‘commonsense’ is often defied by the maths. For proof of this, you need only look at the multi-billion-pound gambling industry. Bookmakers and casinos profit because we find it hard to evaluate odds and probabilities. I am reminded of an intelligent friend who couldn’t [...]
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