The symbols we use every day have fascinating and surprisingly recent origins, explains author Joseph Mazur in his new book A few years ago friends and I were talking about the origins of written ...

The letter “x” often symbolizes something unknown, with an air of mystery that can be appealing. Illustration by Meilan Solly Even though “x” is one of the least-used letters in the English alphabet, ...

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A formula is a rule that links variables and can be written using mathematical symbols. Substitute the given values for the length of one side (12) and the number of sides (5). Follow the formula ...

War in Europe is a staple topic in the study of history, but there’s one major conflict most history books won’t teach you: the battle of the equal sign, =. These two parallel lines were, in fact, the ...

Algebra can be demystified with the right approach. Transforming word problems into mathematical expressions is crucial, alongside using formula sheets and colour-coding equations for clarity.