Equations built giants like Google. Who’ll find the next billion-dollar bit of maths? | David Sumpter

Obscure, generations-old theorems have been transformative in tech, and there are still plenty out there to be used

In 1998, a computer science PhD student called Larry Page submitted a patent for internet search based on an obscure piece of mathematics. The method, known today as PageRank, allowed the most relevant webpages to be found much more rapidly and accurately than ever before. The patent, initially owned by Stanford, was sold in 2005 for shares that are today worth more …

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