Why do irrational numbers exist? originally appeared on Quora: the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world. Answer by Alon Amit, PhD ...

Katie has a PhD in maths, specializing in the intersection of dynamical systems and number theory. She reports on topics from maths and history to society and animals. Katie has a PhD in maths, ...

The ancient scholar Hippasus of Metapontum was punished with death for his discovery of irrational numbers—or at least that’s the legend. What actually happened in the fifth century B.C.E. is far from ...

In the early 1970s mathematician Donald Knuth spent a sabbatical with his wife in Norway. The time was meant to be spent relaxing. Yet one night he woke up his partner in a state of agitation. He ...

IN the first of these tracts Prof. Dedekind gives a theory of irrational numbers and of the arithmetical continuum which is logically perfect, and in form, perhaps, more simple and direct than any ...

Numbers comprise a string of digits that are used to represent various quantities and amounts. Each number designates the size of some quantity that is either large or small. Numbers can be of ...