How To Describe This Image: Number lines are a challenge to describe in a manner that is helpful and efficient. Soon, number lines in digital assessments may be coded so that they are navigable ...

Just as a terrestrial globe cannot be flattened without distorting the distances, it seemed impossible to visualize abstract mathematical objects called flat tori in ordinary three-dimensional space.

Interestingly, when you look at them it isn't hard for those of us who are not mathematicians to see why. The former explains complex elements within a simple framework. The latter is long and messy.

The book 50 Visions of Mathematics is a collection of 50 short essays by 50 maths writers and a foreword by Dara O Briain. Launched on Wednesday to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Institute of ...