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[[List of mathematical topics|Mathematical topics]] | [[List of mathematical topics (lists)|Mathematical lists]] | [[List of mathematicians|Mathematicians]] | [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Mathematics|WikiProject Mathematics]]

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==Introduction==

I very much welcome comments on any of my contributions (naming, format, style, contents, usefulness etc etc) - post a message at [[User_talk:Gandalf61]].

As for myself ... I am [[United Kingdom|British]] so I enjoy :
* The outstanding comedy of [[Monty Python]] and [[Fawlty Towers]]
* The animation of [[Nick Park]]
* Singing along with [[Flanders & Swann]]
* Eating [[Marmite]] on [[toast]]
* Drinking [[dandelion and burdock]] and warm [[beer]] (but not both at the same time)
* ... and playing [[Diplomacy (game) | Diplomacy]], [[Risk (game) | Risk]] and, of course, [[Mornington Crescent (game)|Mornington Crescent]]

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==Articles==

Articles that I have started or made a substantial contribution to include :

===2003===
* [[Abstract structure]] - a gap that needed filling because there was a link to it from the [[mathematics]] page
* [[Proof by exhaustion]] - an important method of [[mathematical proof]] that has some controversial applications
* [[Constructive proof]] - a complement to the [[nonconstructive proof]] article, and completes a link from [[mathematical proof]]
* [[Generating function]] - replaced a redirect to [[formal power series]] with an article on different types of generating functions and their uses
* [[Farey sequence]] - just couldn't resist filling out the previous stub
* [[Ford circle]] - a natural link from [[Farey sequence]]
* [[Kepler conjecture]] - a fascinating problem, and an example of [[proof by exhaustion]]
* [[Sphere packing]] - a requested article that provides context for the [[Kepler conjecture]]
* [[Mathematics as a language]] - completes a link from [[mathematical proof]]
* [[Flanders and Swann]] - expanded previous stub
* [[Polydivisible number]] - an intriguing backwater in [[recreational mathematics]]
* [[Octave Chanute]] - American railroad engineer and aviation pioneer
* [[Coniston Water]] - scene of [[Donald Campbell]]'s death in 1967

===2004===
* [[Abstraction (mathematics)]] - link from [[abstract structure]]
* [[Riemann hypothesis]] - added history section
* [[St. Elsewhere]] - new article
* [[Modular group]] - expanded existing article
* [[Fractal]] - added history section
* [[Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer conjecture]] - added background section and expanded rest of article
* [[Julia set]] - amended general definition of Julia set
* [[Fatou set]] - new article, link from [[Julia set]]
* [[Lucas sequence]] - new article, link from [[Fibonacci pseudoprime]]
* [[Disquisitiones Arithmeticae]] - new article, link from [[Carl Friedrich Gauss]] and [[number theory]]
* [[Vorlesungen über Zahlentheorie]] - new article, link from [[number theory]]
* [[Mathematical beauty]] - re-write of existing article
* [[Mathematics and art]] - split out from [[mathematical beauty]]
* [[How Long Is the Coast of Britain? Statistical Self-Similarity and Fractional Dimension]] - new article, link from [[fractal]]
* [[Voronoi diagram]] - added history section
* [[Project Excelsior]] - new article, link from [[Joseph Kittinger]]
* [[Pendine Sands]] - new article, written because I went there on holiday
* [[K'nex]] - expanded previous stub
* [[Rare Earth hypothesis]] - made existing article less rhetorical, more NPOV
* [[Evolving the Alien: The Science of Extraterrestrial Life]] - new article, book by [[Jack Cohen (scientist)|Jack Cohen]] and [[Ian Stewart (mathematician)|Ian Stewart]]
* [[Moving average (finance)]] - a family of common [[technical analysis]] techniques that deserved their own article
* [[Lyapunov fractal]] - expanded previous stub
* [[Apollonian gasket]] - new article on a very beautiful [[fractal]]
* [[Benoît Mandelbrot]] - expanded existing article
* [[Lévy C curve]] - new article, link from [[fractal]]
* [[Lévy flight]] - expanded previous stub
* [[Lévy's constant]] - new article
* [[Paul Pierre Lévy]] - expanded previous stub
* [[Ruth Lawrence]] - expanded previous stub
* [[Notes & Queries]] - new article celebrating 15th anniversary of column in ''[[The Guardian]]''

===2005===
* [[Zeckendorf's theorem]] - new article, referenced in [[Fibonacci number]]
* [[Edouard Zeckendorf]] - new article
* [[Mathematics education]] - re-wrote and expanded previous stub
* [[A Mathematician's Apology]] - expanded previous stub
* [[Hans von Mangoldt]] - new article
* [[von Mangoldt function]] - example of an [[arithmetic function]] that is neither multiplicative nor additive
* [[Padovan sequence]] - new article
* [[Plastic number]] - re-wrote previous stub
* [[Dyadic transformation]] - re-wrote previous stub
* [[Tent map]] - expanded and re-wrote previous stub. Tent map exhibits a wide range of dynamic behaviours in a fairly simple context.
* [[Poincaré-Bendixson theorem]] - new article
* [[List of Cambridge mathematicians]] - extended previous stub list

===2006===
* [[Carmichael's theorem]] - replaced redirect
* [[Midy's theorem]] - new article
* [[p-adic number]] - re-wrote Introduction section and added references
* [[trimorphic number]] - new article, extends concept of [[automorphic number]]
* [[henagon]] and [[digon]] - expanded previous stubs
* [[ideal triangle]] - new article, linked from [[hyperbolic triangle]]
* [[A. Cohn's irreducibility criterion]] - expanded previous stub
* [[Anderton Boat Lift]] - expanded previous stub; added diagrams
* [[Regular Polytopes (book)]] - new article

===2007===
* [[Indra's Pearls (book)]] - new article
* [[Graphical timeline of the Big Bang]] - made timeline consistent with times given in the individual early universe epoch articles, and wrote new article on the [[quark epoch]]
* [[Multiplicative group of integers modulo n]] - added examples
* [[Eulerian number]] - replaced incorrect redirect with new article
* [[Peter Harrison Planetarium]] - expanded previous stub
* [[Hofstadter sequence]] - new article
* [[Integer relation algorithm]] - new article
* [[Euclid's orchard]] - new article
* [[Experimental mathematics]] - rewrote and expanded previous stub

===2008===
* [[Encyclopedia of Triangle Centers]] - new article
* [[Coxeter's loxodromic sequence of tangent circles]] - new article
* [[Cocker's Arithmetick]] - new article
* [[Superperfect number]] - new article
* [[Timeline of the future in forecasts]] - expanded and improved article when nominated for deletion
* [[65536 (number)]] - expanded and improved article when nominated for deletion
* [[Lochs' theorem]] - new article
* [[Juggler sequence]] - new article
* [[From Here to Infinity (book)]] - new article, because I was re-reading it and noticed we did not have an article
* [[Jeep problem]] - expanded stub
* [[Baum-Sweet sequence]] - new article
* [[Rudin-Shapiro sequence]] - new article
* [[Regular paperfolding sequence]] - new article

===2009===
* [[Fermat quotient]] - new article
* [[Locally catenative sequence]] - new article, linked from [[L-system]]
* [[Church of Saint Leonard, Bengeo]] - expanded, added more images
* [[Final stellation of the icosahedron]] - brought to good article standard
* [[Penrose tiling]] - brought to good article standard

===2010===
* [[Primitive abundant number]] - new article
* [[Durfee square]] - new article

===2011===
* [[The Quantum Universe]] - new article

===2012===
* [[Monsky's theorem]] - new article
===2019===
* [[van Eck's sequence]] - new article
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==Things I Have Learned From Wikipedia==
To help me remember why I contribute to Wikipedia, this is a list (in no particular order) of things that I did not know until I read about them here.
*A [[concrete canoe]] can resurface even after it is submerged. 
*The [[Michael Blassie|unknown soldier]] is not always unknown.
*The [[Perpetual virginity of Mary]] is a doctrine of the Catholic Church.
*[[:Image:Koch cube.gif|The 3D equivalent of a Koch snowflake]] fills a cube.
*''Pica'' is a [[Pica (unit of measure)|unit of measure in typography]]; the [[Pica (genus)|genus of the magpie]]; and the medical term for [[pica (disorder)|an appetite for non-foods]].
*An unpopped [[popcorn]] kernel is known as an "old maid".
*The [[M96 motorway]] is not open to the public, but has appeared in a television documentary.
*The [[Triangulum Galaxy]] is probably the furtherest object visible with the naked eye. It is about 400,000 light years further away than the [[Andromeda Galaxy]].
*A [[square wheel]] can give a smooth ride on a bumpy road.
*[[Bram Stoker]], author of [[Dracula]], read mathematics at [[Trinity College, Dublin]], and graduated with honours.
*The gravitational sphere of influence of one body that is in orbit around another larger body is known as its [[Hill sphere]].
*In addition to [[Charon (moon)|Charon]], [[Pluto]] has at least four other moons ([[Nix (moon)|Nix]], [[Hydra (moon)|Hydra]], [[Kerberos (moon)|Kerberos]] and [[Styx (moon)|Styx]]).
*A crime commited by an astronaut on the [[International Space Station]] would fall under the jurisdiction of the home country of the alleged perpetrator.
*[[Salvador Dali]]'s last painting, [[The Swallow's Tail]], is about [[catastrophe theory]].
*The [[Danjon scale]] is used to measure the visbility of the Moon during a [[total lunar eclipse]].
*In medieval Europe, the [[barnacle goose]] was believed to be born from a [[barnacle]]. This allowed Catholics to eat it during Lent, as it was classified as a fish.
*Ingesting silver or silver compounds can turn your skin blue - a condition known as [[argyria]].
*[[Mountbatten pink]], used as naval camouflage paint by [[Louis Mountbatten]] in World War II, is a mixture of medium gray with a small amount of [[Venetian red]].
*The inventor of mass-produced instant coffee was called [[George Washington (inventor)|George Washington]].
*[[Harriet Quimby]], the first woman to earn a US pilot's certificate, became the first woman to fly across the English Channel less than a year later.
*A [[desire line]] is a path created by people repeatedly taking the same route across an open space such as a field or lawn.
*Bulwarks built around the piers of a bridge to ease the flow of water and reduce erosion are called [[Starling (architecture)|starlings]].
*[[Bismuth]] and [[silicon]] each has the unusual property that its liquid phase is denser than its solid phase (like water).
*[[Keraunomedicine]] is the medical study of lightning casualties; ''keraunos'' is Greek for "thunder" or "thunderbolt".
*In her 2005 album [[Aerial (album)|''Aerial'']], [[Kate Bush]] sings the first 137 digits of the decimal expansion of [[Pi|π]] (omitting digits 79 to 100).
*The study of flags is called [[vexillology]], from ''[[vexillum]]'', a type of flag carried by Roman legions.
*Despite having a very similar diet to cows, [[kangaroo]]s produce virtually no methane from digestion.
*[[Cummingtonite]], named after [[Cummington, Massachusetts]], is a mineral composed of magnesium iron silicate hydroxide.
*The [[Boomerang Nebula]] has a temperature of 1K (i.e. colder than the [[CMB]]) and is the coldest known natural environment.
*September 19th is [[International Talk Like a Pirate Day]].
*[[Bicycle Day]] (April 19th, 1943) is the day when Dr [[Albert Hofmann]] first intentionally ingested LSD in a self-experiment.
*The [[Toast of Botswana]] is a naturally-occuring [[sheep-goat hybrid]].
*In American slang, "[[going postal]]" means "to suddenly become extremely and uncontrollably angry, possibly to the point of violence".
*[[Charles Osborne]] hiccupped continuously for 68 years, from 1922 to 1990.
*The [[Feynman Point]] is the sequence of six 9s which begins at the 762nd decimal place of [[Pi|π]].
*[[Stigler's law of eponymy]] states that "No scientific discovery is named after its original discoverer". [[Stephen Stigler]] first published the law, but attributed its discovery to [[Robert K. Merton]].
*The highest unclimbed mountain in the world is [[Gangkhar Puensum]] in Bhutan. At present, mountaineering is prohibited in Bhutan.
*In 1907 [[Duncan MacDougall (doctor)|Dr. Duncan MacDougall]] weighed six of his patients ''while they were dying'' in order to determine the weight of the human soul, which he estimated to be 21 grams.
*A [[spite house]] is an American term for an often impractical building constructed to annoy or aggravate the owner of a neighbouring property.
*[[February 30|February had 30 days]] in 1712 in Sweden, when two leap days were introduced to re-align the [[Swedish calendar]] with the [[Julian calendar]]. Sweden did not adopt the [[Gregorian calendar]] until 1753.
*[[Exoteric]] is the opposite of ''esoteric'' - so public or common knowledge is ''exoteric knowledge''.
*The word [[Coach (carriage)|coach]] comes from the Hungarian village of [[Kocs]], where steel-sprung horse-drawn carriages were first built in the 15th century.
*A [[trompe]] is a water-powered air compressor commonly used before electric-powered compressors became available.
*Dr. [[William Moulton Marston]], inventor of the [[polygraph]], also created [[Wonder Woman]].
*[[Velology]] is the study and collection of [[vehicle licence]] discs.
*The [[Kingdom of Lovely]] is a partly Internet-based [[micronation]] founded by comedy writer [[Danny Wallace]].
*The [[cubewano]] [[58534 Logos]] has a satellite called Zoe, which is the only non-asteroid body in the Solar System whose [[List of named Solar System objects|name]] begins with the letter Z.
*A [[cephalophore]] (from the Greek for "head-carrier") is a saint depicted carrying their head in their hands, signifying that they were martyred by beheading.
*At its peak, [[Walt Disney World Resort]], Florida, occupied a larger area than [[Paris]] - 120 km<sup>2</sup> v. 105 km<sup>2</sup>.
*A [[cordwainer]] makes shoes - a cobbler, strictly speaking, only ''mends'' shoes.
*The place on Earth farthest from the Earth's centre is the summit of [[Chimborazo (volcano)|Chimborazo]] (or possibly the summit of [[Huascarán]]).
*The "paragraph sign" ¶ is more formally called a [[pilcrow]]; the "division sign" ÷ is more formally called a [[obelus]], which has the same Greek root as [[obelisk]].
*Writer [[Roald Dahl]] was named after polar explorer [[Roald Amundsen]] by his Norwegian parents.
*According to John Lennon, the title of ''[[Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds]]'' came from a drawing made by Lennon's young son [[Julian Lennon|Julian]] of his nursery school classmate [[Lucy Vodden]].
*[[March 0]] is the last day of February.
*[[Truck nuts]] are a uniquely American vehicle accessory.
*[[Lobster Thermidor]] is named after the [[Thermidor|11th month]] of the [[French Republican Calendar]].
*Shells fired by the [[Paris Gun]] in 1918 were the first man-made objects to enter the stratosphere.
*[[Borborygmus]] is the medical term for stomach rumbling.
*[[Troll (research station)|Troll]] and [[Tor (research station)|Tor]] are Norwegian Polar Institute research stations in Antarctica.
*The [[Stout Scarab]] is an innovative US automobile manufactured in small numbers in the 1930s and considered by some to be the world's first production minivan.
*[[St Piran's Day]] is the national day of Cornwall.
*[[Anastrophe]] the natural word order inverts, a sentence more interesting to make.
*[[Molinology]] is the study of miils and other water or wind powered mechanisms.
*[[Tillamook Cheddar (dog)|Tillamook Cheddar]] was an American canine artist named after a [[Tillamook cheddar|cheese]].
*The [[Local Bubble]] may have been blown by [[Geminga]].
*[[Petrichor]] (from the Greek ''petra'' + ''ichor'') is the scientific term for the scent of rain on dry earth.
*A [[rastrum]] is a five-pointed pen used to draw musical staves.
*A [[hail cannon]] is an unlikely device that is supposed to prevent the formation of hailstones.
*Before the publication of  Charlotte Brontë's [[Shirley (novel)|novel]] in 1849, Shirley was an uncommon - but distinctly male - name and would have been an unusual name for a woman.
*There are two [[Floozie in the Jacuzzi|Floozies in the Jacuzzi]]; one in Birmingham, and one in Dublin.
*[[Starbucks]] coffehouse chain was named after the first mate of the ''[[Pequod (Moby-Dick)|Pequod]]'' in Melville's ''[[Moby-Dick]]''.
*[[Philip K. Dick]]'s middle name was Kindred.
*A [[cinderella stamp]] is virtually anything resembling a postage stamp, but not issued for postal purposes by a government postal administration.
*[[Mavis]] is a dialect name for the song thrush, but was first used as a woman's name in the 1895 novel ''[[The Sorrows of Satan]]''.
*The [[Kirkwood gap]]s are caused by Jupiter.
*In meteorology [[virga]] (''Latin'': twig or branch) is precipitation that falls from a cloud but evaporates or sublimates before reaching the ground.
*The [[Sacred Cod|Sacred Cod]] and the [[Sacred Cod|Holy Mackerel]] hang in the [[Massachusetts State House]] in Boston.
*The notion that [[duct tape]] was originally "duck tape" made from [[cotton duck]] is probably an urban myth.
*[[Ground roller]]s are a small family of non-migratory near-passerine birds restricted to Madagascar.
*A [[hypernucleus]] contains at least one hyperon (a baryon carrying the strangeness quantum number) in addition to protons and neutrons.
*"[[In like Flynn]]" is a slang phrase meaning "having quickly or easily achieved a goal". The eponymous Flynn may be actor [[Errol Flynn]] or American politician [[Edward J. Flynn]].
*[[Goldfish swallowing]] was a fad in American colleges in the 1930s.
*[[Mount St. Helens]] was named after [[Alleyne FitzHerbert, 1st Baron St Helens]]. The title was named after the village of [[St Helens, Isle of Wight|St Helens]] on the Ise of Wight.
*[[Soylent (meal replacement)|Soylent]] is an off-white powder - and definitely not [[Soylent Green|green]].
*[[Jimi Heselden]], British millionaire and owner of [[Segway Inc.]], died as a result of falling off cliff while riding a Segway.
*[[Ovaltine]] was originally called ''Ovomaltine'' but its name was shortened due to a misspelling in its British trademark application.
*[[Dogfooding]] - when a company uses its own products in order to test them in real-life scenarios.
*The [[saxophone]] is made of brass, but is a [[woodwind instrument]], not a [[brass instrument]].
*[[Juneteenth]] is recognized as a state holiday or special day of observance in 46 of the 50 states of the USA.
*The [[NICO Clean Tobacco Card]] irradiated cigarettes to "enhance the smoking experience".
*[[Mole Day]] is an unofficial holiday celebrated by chemists on 23rd October each year.
*[[Anthimeria]] is using one part of speech as another part of speech. [[Verbification]] is a type of anthimeria - you can Wikipedia it.
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==To Do==

Create/expand history sections in following articles : [[hyperbolic geometry]], [[quadratic reciprocity]], [[prime number theorem]], [[Euler-Mascheroni constant]] ...

Write articles on [[world water speed record]], [[Bluebird (car)]] and [[Bluebird (boat)]]

== BarnStars ==

{| style="border: 1px solid {{{border|gray}}}; background-color: {{{color|#fdffe7}}};"
|rowspan="2" valign="middle" | [[Image:Working_Man's_Barnstar.png|100px]]
|rowspan="2" |
|style="font-size: x-large; padding: 0; vertical-align: middle; height: 1.1em;" | '''The Working Man's Barnstar'''
|-
|style="vertical-align: middle; border-top: 1px solid gray;" | For your tireless and helpful work in the Reference desks.  [[User:Jones2|Jones2]] 10:55, 31 December 2006 (UTC) 
|}

{| style="border: 1px solid {{{border|gray}}}; background-color: {{{color|#fdffe7}}};"
|rowspan="2" valign="middle" | [[Image:Refdesk barnstar candidate2.png|100px]]
|rowspan="2" |
|style="font-size: x-large; padding: 0; vertical-align: middle; height: 1.1em;" | '''The Reference Desk Barnstar'''
|-
|style="vertical-align: middle; border-top: 1px solid gray;" | Thank you for your reply to my query at the Science Reference Desk regarding the [[Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Archives/Science/2008_January_9#History_of_quantum_mechanics|History of Quantum Mechanics]]. Your contribution to the discussion was insightful, and helped me find the answers I was looking for. Thanks! [[User:FusionKnight|FusionKnight]] ([[User talk:FusionKnight|talk]]) 19:46, 22 January 2008 (UTC)
|}
{| style="border: 1px solid gray; background-color: #fdffe7;"
|rowspan="2" valign="top" | [[Image:Barnstar-atom3.png|100px]]
|rowspan="2" |
|style="font-size: x-large; padding: 0; vertical-align: bottom; height: 1.1em;" | '''The E=mc² Barnstar'''
|-
|style="vertical-align: top; border-top: 1px solid gray;" | I make it a habit to scroll through RD/MA every once in a while, and I've seen you offer intelligent insight on multiple occasions. Hence, a barnstar. :) &mdash;<strong>[[User:Anonymous Dissident|<span style="font-family:Script MT Bold;color:DarkRed">Anonymous Dissident</span>]]</strong>[[User_talk:Anonymous Dissident|<sup><span style="font-family:Verdana;color:Gray">Talk</span></sup>]] 11:46, 6 February 2009 (UTC)
|}

{| style="border: 1px solid gray; background-color: #fdffe7;"
|rowspan="2" valign="middle" | {{#ifeq:{{{2}}}|alt|[[File:Kindness Barnstar Hires.png|100px]]|[[File:Random Acts of Kindness Barnstar.png|100px]]}}
|rowspan="2" |
|style="font-size: x-large; padding: 0; vertical-align: middle; height: 1.1em;" | '''The Random Acts of Kindness Barnstar'''
|-
|style="vertical-align: middle; border-top: 1px solid gray;" | Dear Gandalf61, thank you for the kindness that you've shown towards me. I do not believe that we've ever interacted on Wikipedia before but nevertheless, you stood up for me. I really appreciate this act of charity and hope that God will bless you and your family in abundance. The image in this barnstar has a smile in it, which you brought to my face today. I hope that this barnstar will do the same to you. Your new friend, [[User:Anupam|Anupam]]<sup>[[User talk:Anupam|Talk]]</sup> 03:41, 2 May 2012 (UTC)
|}

==My subpages==
{{list subpages|caption=}}