Ancient Web: Kevin Brown's MathPages Kept Hundreds of Proofs in Plain HTML

Part of the Ancient Web Collection.

The first thing MathPages asks readers to do is choose a subject. No account, no quiz about their skill level, and no friendly cartoon explaining what a number is. Just shelves of mathematical writing.

Visit MathPages.

Kevin Brown's reference site is divided into number theory, combinatorics, geometry, algebra, calculus, probability, set theory, physics, history, and a substantial section called Reflections on Relativity. Its spare entrance contains nearly nothing except these subject links.

The combined contents list is where the scale becomes apparent. It is a long alphabetical-like sequence of essay titles and links. Subjects range from familiar puzzles and irrational numbers to the birthday problem, Möbius groups, electron distributions, and sophisticated questions about number sequences.

The index is a map of one person's curiosities

A visit to the number theory section leads to essays on pseudoprimes, Fermat's Last Theorem for cubes, digit-reversal sums that produce palindromes, Zeisel numbers, and recurring sequences. These are not merely encyclopedia headings copied from a textbook. Each offers a route into a particular mathematical argument.

The relativity table of contents widens the range. Brown writes about spacetime, simultaneity, measurements, geometry, and the interpretation of equations in general and special relativity. A visitor can move from abstract mathematics to conceptual physics without changing authorial voice.

Some articles have playful titles: The Dullness of 1729, Can Schrödinger's Cat Factor Numbers?, and Optimizing Your Wife. The latter title reflects the author's own choice and may strike readers as dated, but its survival is part of this personal archive's character.

The site has continued receiving attention, with its combined list carrying a 2026 copyright notice. This is therefore a living example of old-style reference publishing, not a page frozen in a particular year. Its continued value is its linked essays, stable topic indexes, and complete arguments kept in readable documents.

MathPages illustrates a form of the independent Web that resists platform design: when one person has a great deal to say, a sufficiently good table of contents can do most of the work.

Browse the combined essay list and the number theory room.

Part of the Ancient Web Collection.