The concepts of polynomials and matrices essentially expand and enhance the elementary arithmetic of numbers. Once introduced, polynomials and matrices open up new interesting mathematical challenges which extend to new fields of mathematical explorations within university mathematics. We present an aspect of a rather elementary exploration of polynomials and matrices, which offers a new perspective and an interesting matrix analogue to the concept of a zero of a polynomial. The discussion offers an opportunity for better comprehension of the fundamental concepts of polynomials and matrices. As an application we are led to the meaningful questions of linear algebra and to an easy proof of the otherwise advanced and abstract Cayley-Hamilton theorem.

Many readers are familiar with the celebrated Finsler-Hadwiger and Weitzenböck’s inequality in triangle geometry. On the other hand, Wolstenholme’s inequality is not widely known, but is equally important and in an indirect way can be used to derive these two. We will introduce it and then show its strength.

The Royal Statistical Society and the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries have published a report, written by Roger Porkess [1], which draws urgent attention to the issue of statistical education: is it fit for purpose? Statistics is an ever-present part of real life, and there can be no doubt that for most pupils it is statistics that will be the most directly used part of their mathematical education.

The report follows an investigation into the perceived statistical needs of various subject ‘communities’, and is a follow-up to The future of statistics in our schools and colleges [2] by the same author and publishers. It is aimed at a wide readership, from policy-makers through curriculum providers and teachers (fairly low in the pecking order!) to authors and other providers of resources. There is no doubt that all such interested parties should be considering the issues covered by this study, and it should be read widely. The title of the report implies suggestions for cross-curricular work, but it is more essentially a plea to rethink the role of statistical education – a plea articulated more fully in [2]. It is the purpose of this article to further the debate.

1. Introduction

In the article [1], a follow-up to my article [2], Christian and Trustrum cite empirical evidence that the probability of a family giving birth to a boy or to a girl may vary from family to family. Letting bi and gi = 1 − bi respectively denote the probability of the ith family giving birth to a boy or to a girl, the suggestion is that bi may be distinct from bj for distinct i and j. As they point out, this has implications for the expected society-wide number of boys and girls. Following my discussion of the ‘stop after k girls’ policy, Christian and Trustrum introduce the related policy ‘stop after k girls or N children’. They argue that the expected number of children under this latter policy is an increasing function of bi (when 0 < k < N). The present article complements their discussion by examining this alternative stopping policy in more detail.

The celebrated Steiner-Lehmus theorem states that if the internal bisectors of two angles of a triangle are equal, then the triangle is isosceles. In other words, if P is the incentre of triangle ABC, and if BP and CP meet the sides AC and AB at B′and C′, respectively, then

The ellipse is well known to students of mathematics at an advanced high school level and at an undergraduate level through its associations with, say, conic sections and their deployment as hardware in dual reflector antenna systems. Perhaps less well known is its appearance on the software side, so to speak, for example in RF (Radio Frequency) engineering in the context of polarisation, where it is known as the polarisation ellipse. It is the purpose here to discuss this manifestation and dwell particularly on the concept of a circumscribing rectangle for this ellipse because such aspects are of interest to the RF engineer who may be involved with measurements to determine its properties. This exercise affords an interesting insight into a very practical application of tertiary level mathematics and whilst it is of course helpful to appreciate the physical concepts involved, a lack of such knowledge does not detract from an appreciation of the underlying sums, which should be within the grasp of the above, interested student.