In the late 19th century, Karl Weierstrass invented a fractal-like function that was decried as nothing less than a “deplorable evil.” In time, it would transform the foundations of mathematics.

Algebraic geometry codes are a class of error-correcting codes constructed from algebraic curves over finite fields. They utilise divisors and Riemann–Roch spaces to achieve parameters that often ...

The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. Calculus is a powerful mathematical tool. But for hundreds of years after its invention in the 17th century, it stood on a shaky ...