These attempts would never solve my problem outright, but they might garner evidence toward an answer. My lack of programming expertise and resulting impatience slowed the process, making it an ...

When the Clay Mathematics Institute put individual $1-million prize bounties on seven unsolved mathematical problems, they may have undervalued one entry—by a lot. If mathematicians were to resolve, ...

Eric Larson and Isabel Vogt have solved the interpolation problem — a centuries-old question about some of the most basic objects in geometry. Some credit goes to the chalkboard in their living room.

Werner Heisenberg won the 1932 Nobel Prize for helping to found the field of quantum mechanics and developing foundational ideas like the Copenhagen interpretation and the uncertainty principle. The ...

Mathematicians have long pondered the reach of a grazing goat tied to a fence, only finding approximate answers until now. Here’s a simple-sounding problem: Imagine a circular fence that encloses one ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. The Universe is out there, waiting for you to discover it. If you ask a physicist what the biggest unsolved problem facing the ...