The date of Easter Sunday, the great Christian festival celebrating the resurrection of Jesus, is determined by an amalgam of astronomy, mathematics and pragmatism, an algorithm that determines the date in accordance with the motions of the Sun and Moon. The ecclesiastical equinox is fixed on 21 March, which generally — though not always — …

Is the universe finite or infinite in extent? This question has been a preoccupation of philosophy for millennia, and scientists continue to grapple with it. Wherever infinity appears, paradox looms up. Given the finite speed of light, an infinite cosmos would have regions forever unknowable to us. But even a finite cosmos presents perplexities: if …

The simple question of who invented the digital computer has many possible answers. Several strands of development — both theoretical and practical — converged around 1950, and no single inventor can be identified. Before that time, numerous mechanical calculating machines were devised and constructed. These greatly facilitated the preparation of mathematical tables, crucial for...

Directly opposite the RDS in Dublin, on the site of the former AIB headquarters, stand two impressive new office blocks separated by a plaza, Fibonacci Place. Leonardo Bonacci — known as Fibonacci, the son of Bonaccio — lived from 1170 to about 1245 AD. It is he who we must thank for bringing us the …