Theano, an associate, most likely the wife, of Pythagoras, has some claim to be the first woman to play an active role in mathematics. The question of how far this claim can be supported is here examined.

An earlier paper discussed the case of a flexible but inextensible membrane filled to capacity with incompressible fluid. It was found that the resulting shape satisfies a set of three simultaneous partial differential equations. This article gives a more general derivation of these equations and shows their form in an interesting special case.

The story is often told of the calculation by G.I. Taylor of the yield of the first ever atomic bomb exploded in New Mexico in 1945. It has indeed become a staple of the classroom whenever dimensional analysis is taught. However, while it is true that Taylor succeeded in calculating this figure at a time when it was still classified, most versions…

Many familiar household objects (such as sausages) involve the maximization of a volume under geometric constraints. A flexible but inextensible membrane bounds a volume which is to be filled to capacity. In the case of the sausage, a full analytic solution is here provided. Other related but more difficult problems seem to demand approximate…

A problem posed in an influential textbook is analysed in more detail than is given there. The textbook answer to the problem has been represented as counterintuitive, as is probably the case; however, it is here shown that it depends critically on an assumption. If this is relaxed, then a wide variety of possible answers is available. All the…

An extended Heaviside calculus proposed by Peraire in a recent paper is similar to a generalization of the Laplace transform proposed by the present author. This similarity will be illustrated by analysis of an example supplied by Peraire.

This classroom note presents a final solution for the functional equation: f(xy)=xf(y) + yf(x). The functional equation if formally similar to the familiar product rule of elementary calculus and this similarity prompted its study by Ren et al., who derived some results concerning it. The purpose of this present note is to extend these results and…

Euler's famous formula, e to the (i, pi) power equals -1, is developed by a purely algebraic method that avoids the use of both trigonometry and calculus. A heuristic outline is given followed by the rigorous theory. Pedagogical considerations for classroom presentation are suggested. (LS)