Mathematics is the study of using numbers and measurement to understand the world.

Past Outcomes of Random Events Affect Future Outcomes


Do Past Outcomes of Random Events Affect Future Outcomes?

Past results of random independent events, like a coin flip, don’t affect future results. The mistaken belief that past results affect future results is known as “the Gambler’s Fallacy” (AKA the Fallacy of the Maturity of Chances, or the Monte Carlo Fallacy).

Computers Can Generate True Random Numbers


Can Computers Generate True Random Numbers?

Computers can’t generate truly random numbers in the purest sense with software alone. However, computers can generate truly random numbers with the help of natural random events.

Ada Lovelace Wrote the First Computer Program


Ada Lovelace Wrote the First Computer Program

British mathematician Ada Lovelace can be considered the mother of computer programing, as she wrote the first complex algorithm meant to be carried out by a machine. However, it is a myth that Ada Lovelace wrote “the first computer program” or was “the first computer programmer”, that title belongs to Charles Babbage.

René Descartes Slept in an Oven


Did René Descartes Sleep in an Oven?

René Descartes didn’t sleep in an oven, but he did invent analytical geometry while sleeping in a room with an oven (likely a masonry heater).