Stories by Jack Murtagh

The discovery of a new prime number highlights the rising price of mathematical gold

Math’s “best-choice problem” could help humans become better decision-makers at everything from choosing the best job candidate to finding a romantic partner

Mathematician Gauss left behind a trophy case of mathematical achievements to highlight on his tombstone, but above all he wanted a regular heptadecagon etched on it

Why a mathematician thought this infinite series explained how God created the universe

Poker players can now employ AI to find the optimal playing strategy, but they often don’t use it. Here’s why

Ada Lovelace’s wisdom about the first general-purpose computer can be found buried in the appendix of another paper

The most common test of statistical significance originated from the Guinness brewery. Here’s how it works

If pi is a “normal” number, the constant would contain much more than Shakespeare, resolving why such a random-looking number lives at the heart of simple circles

Are you smarter than an 18th-century Prussian?

A simple solution to gerrymandering crumbles when confronted with math’s “ham sandwich theorem”

The bizarre life and legacy of Paul Erdős, the most prolific mathematician ever

The inspection paradox makes sense of social networks, long train wait times and why the call center is always busy 

Here’s a look at the $1-million math problem at the heart of computation

The surprisingly subtle math behind the Powerball and Mega Millions

Graphics reveal the intricate math behind ranked choice voting and how to design the best electoral system, sometimes with bizarre outcomes

The “principle of explosion” explains why a single contradiction would destroy math

Weird math can explain why Warren Buffett had the advantage in a dice game against Bill Gates

“Anscombe’s quartet” and the “datasaurus dozen” demonstrate the importance of visualizing data

Here’s what the hairiest problem in math can teach us about wind, antennas and nuclear fusion

The martingale betting strategy has led many gamblers to ruin when the Kelly criterion could have brought them riches

The twisty history and surprise ending of the four-color-theorem saga

Zero-knowledge proofs allow mathematicians to prove claims without explaining why they’re true

The coin rotation paradox flummoxed SAT test writers even though we encounter this math problem every day

A curious mathematical phenomenon called Benford’s law governs the numbers all around us