To multiply two numbers by hand takes a few steps but it's something we're taught in school. When dealing with big numbers, really big numbers, we need to a quicker way to do things.

To multiply two numbers by hand take a few steps but it’s something we’re taught in school. When dealing with big numbers, really big numbers, we need to a quicker way to do things.

To solve the problem, most people are taught to multiply each individual number together, and then add up the sums: 9 is multiplied by 4, 1, and 3; then 5 is multiplied by 4, 1, and 3, and so on.

Forget your times tables – mathematicians have found a new, faster way to multiply two numbers together. The method, which works only for whole numbers, is a landmark result in computer science.