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.

The court determined whether the minority shareholder should have been able to weigh in on a major financial decision is a question up to a jury. However, it also ruled that his claims of conflict of ...