The superstitious numbers 13 and 18 both have a long history reaching back millennia. The first is usually regarded as unlucky, the latter, lucky – but why? What are the actual origins of these...
This article presents a major breakthrough in Maya art and archaeology, revealing the sophisticated way that Maya artists animated ancient artworks. There is a lot of excitement surrounding the...
Peter Schumer / The Conversation The history of math is murky, predating any written records. When did humans first grasp the basic concept of a number? What about size and magnitude, or form and...
An unusual pentagonal diagram with numbers and letters is found in some old texts. The oldest extant version is in a French book published in 1754, but the image and explanation that accompanies it...
Children of the Mexican Yucatan region are getting much better results in mathematics by learning using the ancient Mayan numeral system. Studies suggest that the results are far exceeding those...
Mangareva is home to just 2,000 inhabitants. The island is a tiny 18 square kilometres and is located halfway between Easter Island and Tahiti. Yet on this small, remote island, the ancient...