We have all noticed how the horn of a speeding car changes as it approaches: each wave-peak is emitted from a closer point, so the wave is “squeezed” and the pitch increases. As the car recedes, the reverse effect stretches the wave, making it sound lower. The changing pitch of the note is called the…

ThatsMaths

15.08.2024

Progress towards a Grand Unified Theory of Mathematics – ThatsMaths

Science advances by overturning theories, replacing them by better ones. Sometimes, the old theories continue to serve as valuable approximations, as with Newton’s laws of motion [TM260 or search for “thatsmaths” at irishtimes.com]. Sometimes, the older theories become redundant and are forgotten. The theory of phlogiston, a fire-like element released during combustion, and the luminiferous…

ThatsMaths

19.09.2024

Hamilton’s Dynamics: a Prescient Framework for Quantum Mechanics – ThatsMaths

While mathematics may be viewed as an abstract creation, its origins lie in the physical world. The need to count animals and share food supplies led to the development of the concept of numbers. With five-fingered hands, we naturally tended to count in tens. Arithmetic methods were needed to allocate land, organize armies and calculate…

ThatsMaths

17.10.2024

Joining Forces to Improve Weather Forecasts – ThatsMaths

Since 1950, there has been a quiet but steady revolution in meteorology, and especially in numerical weather prediction (NWP). The growth in accuracy, range and scope of weather forecasts over the past half-century has been spectacular. As late as the mid-1970s, forecasts were seriously unreliable. The diagram illustrates the inexorable increase in skill of the…

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Science

The Doppler Effect: Simple but Remarkably Useful – ThatsMaths

Progress towards a Grand Unified Theory of Mathematics – ThatsMaths

Hamilton’s Dynamics: a Prescient Framework for Quantum Mechanics – ThatsMaths

Joining Forces to Improve Weather Forecasts – ThatsMaths

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