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MatheMUSEments Articles
about math in everyday life, written by Ivars Peterson for Muse
magazine.
Ivars Peterson is online editor of Science
News and Science News for Kids, and he is the author of
several mathematics books, including The Mathematical Tourist,
and, with Nancy Henderson, two math books for kids: Math Trek:
Adventures in the MathZone and Math Trek 2: A Mathematical
Space Odyssey.
Spiraling Triangles
Muse, February 2007, p. 26-27: Spirals of triangles tile and crinkle into exotic structures.
The Power of 10
Muse, January 2007, p. 22: Counting by tens isn't always the most convenient way to keep track of things.
The
Simpsons and Mathematics
Muse, November/December 2006, p. 44: Here's
another reason to watch those Simpsons reruns.
Upgrading
Muse, October 2006, p. 33: Using math to improve your grades.
Climbing a Watery Slope
Muse, September 2006, p. 28: How insects
get out of a pond and why cereal clumps in milk.
Count and Capture
Muse, July/August 2006, p. 28-29: An ancient
game called awari presents new puzzles.
From
Counting to Writing?
Muse, May/June 2006, p. 39: Mysterious clay
objects suggest that counting may have led to writing.
By the Numb3rs
Muse, April 2006, p. 43: A popular TV series features a math professor as crime fighter.
Problems
to Sharpen the Young
Muse, March 2006, p. 42: Some tricky brainteasers
are hundreds of years old.
Hard Cash
Muse, February 2006, p. 33: Slide coins to solve a tricky puzzle.
The Beauty of the Bag
Muse, January 2006, p. 19: There's a lot to ponder in the
simple folds of a paper bag.
A Good Plot
Muse, November/December 2005, p. 22: The
right sort of display can make looking for names and other information
more fun.
Sudoku
Mania
Muse, October 2005, p. 25: Join the crowd
and use logic to solve these number puzzles.
Icing the Kicker
Muse, September 2005, p. 27: Does making
a kicker wait increase his chances of missing a field goal?
Seeing Things
Muse, July/August 2005, p. 19: Splitting light with your fingernail.
Math Music
Muse, May/June 2005, p. 16-17: Turning numbers
and patterns into eerie tunes.
Never Lift the Pencil
Muse, April 2005, p. 17: Finding routes to
a squiggly mess.
Random Knots
Muse, March 2005, p. 29: Getting all tangled up can be a knotty business.
Chomping to Victory
Muse, February 2005, p. 35: Taking a big
bite doesn't guarantee a win.
Advanced Floating
Muse, January 2005, p. 23: Floating isn't something that can be taken lying down.
Earth Hole
Muse, November/December 2004, p. 17: Tracking
the path of a stone falling through Earth's center.
Poe, E.: Near a Raven
Muse, October 2004, p. 17: Words can help you memorize a lot of digits of pi.
Tricky Crossings
Muse, September 2004, p. 34-35: Crossing a river can be a brainteasing experience.
Champion Paper-Folder
Muse, July/August 2004, p. 33: Can folding a sheet in half 12 times be so hard?
Sink or Be Sunk
Muse, May/June 2004, p. 28-29: Battle it out on pentomino checkerboards.
Knight's Tour
Muse, April 2004, p. 35: Take a special tour of a chessboard.
Solve It or Die
Muse, March 2004, p. 45: Can you solve a puzzle to save the day?
Infinite Wonders
Muse, February 2004, p. 27: Come visit the mind-boggling Infinity Hotel.
Dog Does Calculus
Muse, January 2004, p. 27: Can a dog do advanced math?
Magic Squares
Muse, November/December 2003, p. 32-33: Searching for a digital good-luck charm.
Up the Magician's Sleeve
Muse, October 2003, p. 42-43: A mind-reading card trick you can try on your friends.
Seeing Spots
Muse, September 2003, p. 34-35: Building portraits out of dominoes.
One-Cut Angelfish
Muse, July/August 2003, p. 27: Fold-and-cut can
produce all sorts of amazing shapes and patterns.
What's the Deal?
Muse, May/June 2003, p. 23: It takes a lot of
shuffles to randomize a deck.
Flipping a Coin
Muse, April 2003, p. 19: Pennies can show
a surprising bias.
It's Not You, It's the Puzzle
Muse, March 2003, p. 21: Sliding-block puzzles can be tricky and tough.
Hailstone Numbers
Muse, February 2003, p. 17: Whole numbers can spring surprises.
Monopoly Cheat Sheet
Muse, January 2003, p. 18-19: There's a lot more to playing Monopoly than just rolling dice and buying properties.
Gambling Dogs
Muse, November/December 2002, p. 45: Training a dog means taking chances.
Tricky Choices
Muse, October 2002, p. 24-25: Voting isn't as simple as it looks.
Global Views
Muse, September 2002, p. 42-43: An artist
takes a global viewpoint.
Unfolding Wonders
Muse, July/August 2002, p. 34: An inventor's passion for ingenious mechanisms that fold and unfold.
Batting Streaks
Muse, May/June 2002, p. 35: The randomness of hitting homers.
Mental Math
Muse, April 2002, p. 44-45: Estimating distances.
What a Coincidence!
Muse, March 2002, p. 43: Watch out for birthday surprises.
Multicolored Maps
Muse, February 2002, p. 44-45: Coloring maps can suggest all sorts of puzzles.
Poe's Secrets
Muse, January 2002, p. 44-45: Deciphering mystery passages.
Bunching Buses
Muse, December 2001, p. 39: Waiting
at a bus stop can be puzzling.
Decoding Bar Codes
Muse, November 2001, p. 33: Math behind the scenes at a supermarket.
Defending the Roman Empire
Muse, October 2001, p. 34: A mathematical strategy for a risky game in the age of empires.
Weird Bottles
Muse, September 2001, p. 45: Playing with a bottle that has no edge and only one surface.
Dots and Boxes
Muse, July/August 2001, p. 36: Playing dots and boxes isn't merely child's play.
Tilt-A-Whirl Chaos
Muse, May/June 2001, p. 34-35: The wild ride of a Tilt-A-Whirl illustrates chaos.
Lively Tiles
Muse, April 2001, p. 26-27: Puzzling tiling patterns in Dutch artist M.C. Escher's fabulous drawings.
Fancy Folding
Muse, March 2001, p. 24-25: Exploring the mathematical wonders of origami.
Puzzling Art
Muse, February 2001, p. 34-35: Finding a puzzle in a work of art.
Data in Hiding
Muse, January 2001, p. 22-23: Secret messages in a mess of microscopic spaghetti.
Ant Math
Muse, December 2000, p. 23: Learning from
calculating ants.
Morphing Art
Muse, November 2000, p. 26-27: Giving images a weird stretch or twist.
Views from Flatland
Muse, October 2000, p. 26-27: What would things look like if you were squished flatter than a pancake?
Tesseracts: Cubes Get Hyper
Muse, September 2000, p. 18-19: Stepping into the fourth dimension.
Tricky Tables
Muse, July/August 2000, p. 26-27: Playing billiards takes a strange bounce.
Weird Dice
Muse, May/June 2000, p. 18: Rolling doubles can get you into trouble with these dice.
Four Corners, Four Faces
Muse, April 2000, p. 26: What can you possibly do with a tetrahedron?
Mirror, Mirror
Muse, March 2000, p. 18: Take a close look at yourself—times four or more!
Juggling by Number
Muse, February 2000, p. 26: Meet a juggling mathematician and be amazed by his fancy moves.
Nice Guys Finish First (Sometimes)
Muse, January 2000, p. 20: It's tough out there on the schoolyard.
Glitter Trap
Muse, December 1999, p. 37: Christmas
ornaments never looked so good.
Nature's Numbers
Muse, November 1999, p. 25: We get the chance to give you what you really want--a stunning portrait of a pineapple.
How to Lace Like an Ace
Muse, October 1999, p. 33: If you miss the good old days when tying your shoes was a challenge, have we got a story for you.
Food Counts
Muse, September 1999, p. 34: Finally, a reason to eat candy in class.
Covering Up
Muse, July/August 1999, p. 36: If you develop a strange fascination for Pepto-Bismol bottles after reading this story, don't blame us!
Fair Shares
Muse, May/June 1999, p. 28: Read this and you'll never have to argue about who gets the biggest slice of cake again.
Lizard Game
Muse, April 1999, p. 26-27: The adult male side-blotched lizard plays its own version of rock-paper-scissors. (The teenage ones just play Tomb Raider.)
Knot Magic Not Magic
Muse, March 1999, p. 26-27: DNA, tying your shoelaces, and mathematicians have something in common. Knot!
Square Wheel
Muse, February 1999, p. 26-27: Maybe you can't fit a square peg in a round hole, but that doesn't mean you can't ride a bike with square wheels.
Chasing Arrows
Muse, January 1999, p. 27-28: If you take a strip of paper and tape the ends together the way we tell you, you'll change all space and time!
(Not really, but you'll get a cool shape that might amaze your friends.)
Arithmagic
Try out some amazing magic tricks with numbers.
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