Is there a formula related to the statement "What's old becomes new again"? As middle age encroaches, it becomes harder and harder not to see history recycled and repackaged whether fashion, music, etc... [more inside]
posted by Funmonkey1 on Sep 15, 2009 - 12 answers

Do you know good sources for historical mathematics images, specifically the Bridges of Königsberg by Leonhard Euler? [more inside]
posted by tnygard on Apr 7, 2009 - 4 answers

Did Pythagoras exist? [more inside]
posted by painquale on Feb 14, 2009 - 11 answers

I recall reading that years after Newton and Leibniz, a school teacher slogged from the steppes to the big city with his independent invention of calculus. Apocryphal? Name, place, source? Yeah, I know about the quarrel between Newton & Leibniz, and Indian & Japanese calculus. I think this poor guy was Russian.
posted by gregoreo on Apr 2, 2006 - 7 answers

How did East Asians do math before the adoption of arabic numerals, which are universally used today? Were there a variety of local systems? When did the switchovers happen? [more inside] [more inside]
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken on Oct 14, 2004 - 18 answers