Many of us have a favorite number. It could be because we have a special memory associated with the number, or that we constantly see repeating number sequences. If you're seeing the number 2 ...

What is your favorite number? For many people, it may be an irrational number such as pi (π), Euler’s number (e) or the square root of 2. Even among the natural numbers (positive integers), there are ...

Numbers show up in every aspect of our lives. We use them to identify streets and addresses, and provide babies with social security numbers. Without numbers, society would literally be lost. But what ...

What is the most bizarre real number that you can imagine? Probably many people think of an irrational number such as pi (π) or Euler’s number. And indeed, such values can be considered “wild.” After ...

The ancient Greeks wanted to believe that the universe could be described in its entirety using only whole numbers and the ratios between them — fractions, or what we now call rational numbers. But ...

Mathematicians were disturbed, centuries ago, to find that calculating the properties of certain curves demanded the seemingly impossible: numbers that, when multiplied by themselves, turn negative.

To celebrate Pi Day, we asked several mathematicians to tell us their favorite non-pi numbers. Here are some of their answers. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate ...

A basic feature of number theory, prime numbers are also a fundamental building block of computer science, from hashtables to cryptography. Everyone knows that a prime number is one that cannot be ...

Imaginary numbers might seem like unicorns and goblins — interesting but irrelevant to reality. But for describing matter at its roots, imaginary numbers turn out to be essential. They seem to be ...