When my students grow too dependent on their calculators, I ask them to find a number that, when multiplied by itself, gives them 2. Students quickly see that since 1² = 1 and 2² = 4, the answer has ...

“Do you see the pattern? Each number in the series after the first two numbers is the sum of the preceding two numbers.” That’s how I began my last column focusing on the Fibonacci sequence, which ...

For centuries, one of algebra’s oldest puzzles has remained unsolved—how to find exact answers for higher-degree polynomials, where the variable is raised to the fifth power or more. Mathematicians ...