Content about “
mathematics in the media
”

Article
Tiger face

The tiger that isn't: numbers in the media

NHS budgets, third world debt, predictions of global warming, inflation, Iraqi war dead, the decline of fish stocks or hedgehogs, the threat of cancer — there's hardly a subject people care about that comes without measurements, forecasts, rankings, statistics, targets, numbers of every variety. Do they illuminate or mislead? Introducing their new book, Michael Blastland and Andrew Dilnot take a look at numbers in the media and show that a little maths goes a long way in unravelling dodgy media claims.

Article

Understanding uncertainty

What's the risk of passive smoking? Or climate change? How big is the terrorist threat? And should we trust league tables? These issues concern all of us, but it's not always easy to make sense of the barrage of media information. David Spiegelhalter, Winton Professor for the Public Understanding of Risk, gives Plus his take on uncertainty.
Article

Plus leaves the classroom

Former Plus editor Helen Joyce explains how Plus made it big as a part of our series to celebrate Plus's tenth anniversary.
Article

Maths goes public

Plus celebrates its tenth birthday this year. Former editor and present executive editor of Plus, Robert Hunt, explores how maths popularisation in general, and Plus in particular, have changed over the last ten years.
Article

Editorial

  • Happy birthday Plus! — celebrating 10 years of bringing mathematics to life
  • Plus 10 — what were the greatest mathematical advances in the last decade?
Article
Birthday cake with candles and a plus logo photoshopped onto the cake

How time does PASS

Plus magazine is celebrating its 10th birthday. To mark the occasion, the founding editors of Plus look back on the beginnings, see what has changed in maths and public understanding of maths and pick out some of the articles they liked best.

Article
icon

Damn lies

Runner up in the general public category. "Lies, damned lies, and statistics..." Ben Parker tells us how to tell good statistics from bad, and make sure your cat is well-fed.

Displaying 13 - 24 of 45