Would students take a stronger interest in math if they knew that an ancient African bone (from 20,000 B.C.) might be one of the world’s oldest known counting tools? Or that the work of Muslim ...

While American children once learned to add by reading a poster of animals and birds, they do it now by playing games on computers. Each step in between—whether it be a box of blocks or exercises ...

If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. Learn more. Please also consider subscribing to WIRED Math nerds and historians, it's time ...

The observance was formally instituted by the Government of India in December 2011, and December 22 was designated as ...

Archaeologists working in northern Mesopotamia say they have uncovered visual patterns that look a lot like structured ...

Like many of the cultures it studies, the Department of History of Mathematics has had innovative leaders, a golden era and, inevitably, a fall from glory. This year could witness the end of a ...

The History of Mathematics Research Group studies the origins and development of mathematical ideas and methods from the beginnings of recorded history—in all societies and cultures. Research in this ...

In Trinidad and Ghana, it’s known as susu. In Senegal and Benin it’s tontines. In Nigeria, where it began in the 1700s, it’s esusu. Whatever you call it, this system of large-scale money-pooling for ...

athematics is, at its core, an art. Like painters, musicians or writers, mathematicians create and explore new worlds. They ...