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1 March 2026

February 2026 posts on the aesthetics of mathematics

Each day of February 2026, I posted here and on Mastodon a short interesting story/image/fact/anecdote related to the aesthetics of mathematics.

28 February 2026

Maxwell’s equations

An exemplar of mathematical beauty in physical law.

27 February 2026

Classical and romantic beauty

A typology of beauty by the writer François Le Lionnais.

26 February 2026

Herbert Spencer and Monge’s theorem

Beauty born of mathematical ignorance?

25 February 2026

The mathematical theory of linkages

An area once thought beautiful and now comparatively unknown.

24 February 2026

Schiller, Gauss, Archimedes, Goethe, Lagrange

Poetry and the motivation for mathematics.

23 February 2026

Lagrange and beauty in solid geometry

Examples of mathematical beauty Lagrange saw in solid geometry.

22 February 2026

The beginnings of modern aesthetics

When modern aesthetics emerged, many of the early thinkers thought it natural to consider mathematical beauty.

21 February 2026

The rise of golden numberism

The idea that the golden ratio has (or should have) an aesthetic role has a relatively short history.

20 February 2026

Beautiful unproven results

For Leonhard Euler, both proven and unproven results could be beautiful.

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