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 ...

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.

Can you think of your life where nothing changed? Those moments are rare, as everything in our life is subject to transformation. The amount of food we eat every day, the number of steps we take, and ...