Dr. Googol presents wonders of numbers : adventures in mathematics, mind, and meaning

Who were the five strangest mathematicians in history? What are the ten most interesting numbers? Jam-packed with thought-provoking mathematical mysteries, puzzles, and games, Wonders of Numbers will enchant even the most left-brained of readers. Hosted by the quirky Dr. Googol--who resides on a remote island and occasionally collaborates with Clifford Pickover-- Wonders of Numbers focuses on creativity and the delight of discovery. Here is a potpourri of common and unusual number theory problems of varying difficulty--each presented in brief chapters that convey to readers the essence of the problem rather than its extraneous history. Peppered throughout with illustrations that clarify the problems, Wonders of Numbers also includes fascinating "math gossip." How would we use numbers to communicate with aliens? Check out Chapter 30. Did you know that there is a Numerical Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder? You'll find it in Chapter 45. From the beautiful formula of India's most famous mathematician to the Leviathan number so big it makes a trillion look small, Dr. Googol's witty and straightforward approach to numbers will entice students, educators, and scientists alike to pick up a pencil and work a problem. Contents 16 PART I: FUN PUZZLES AND QUICK THOUGHTS 22 1 Attack of the Amateurs 23 2 Why Don't We Use Roman Numerals Anymore? 27 3 In a Casino 32 4 The Ultimate Bible Code 33 5 How Much Blood? 34 6 Where Are the Ants? 36 7 Spidery Math 37 8 Lost in Hyperspace 39 9 Along Came a Spider 40 10 Numbers beyond Imagination 41 11 Cupid's Arrow 43 12 Poseidon Arrays 44 13 Scales of Justice 45 14 Mystery Squares 47 15 Quincunx 48 16 Jerusalem Overdrive 54 17 The Pipes of Papua 55 18 The Fractal Society 59 19 The Triangle Cycle 62 20 IQ-Block 63 21 Riffraff 65 22 Klingon Paths 67 23 Ouroboros Autophagy 68 24 Interview with a Number 70 25 The Dream-Worms of Atlantis 71 26 Satanic Cycles 73 27 Persistence 75 28 Hallucinogenic Highways 76 PART II: QUIRKY QUESTIONS, LISTS, AND SURVEYS 78 29 Why Was the First Woman Mathematician Murdered? 79 30 What If We Receive Messages from the Stars? 81 31 A Ranking of the 5 Strangest Mathematicians Who Ever Lived 84 32 Einstein, Ramanujan, Hawking 87 33 A Ranking of the 8 Most Influential Female Mathematicians 90 34 A Ranking of the 5 Saddest Mathematical Scandals 94 35 The 10 Most Important Unsolved Mathematical Problems 95 36 A Ranking of the 10 Most Influential Mathematicians Who Ever Lived 99 37 What Is Gödel's Mathematical Proof of the Existence of God? 103 38 A Ranking of the 10 Most Influential Mathematicians Alive Today 105 39 A Ranking of the 10 Most Interesting Numbers 109 40 The Unabomber's 10 Most Mathematical Technical Papers 112 41 The 10 Mathematical Formulas That Changed the Face of the World 114 42 The 10 Most Difficult-to-Understand Areas of Mathematics 119 43 The 10 Strangest Mathematical Titles Ever Published 122 44 The 15 Most Famous Transcendental Numbers 124 45 What Is Numerical Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder? 127 46 Who Is the Number King? 130 47 What 1 Question Would You Add? 133 48 Cube Maze 134 PART III: FIENDISHLY DIFFICULT DIGITAL DELIGHTS 136 49 Hailstone Numbers 137 50 The Spring of Khosrow Carpet 140 51 The Omega Prism 142 52 The Incredible Hunt for Double Smoothly Undulating Integers 144 53 Alien Snow: A Tour of Checkerboard Worlds 145 54 Beauty, Symmetry, and Pascal's Triangle 151 55 Audioactive Decay 155 56 Dr. Googol's Prime Plaid 159 57 Saippuakauppias 161 58 Emordnilap Numbers 163 59 The Dudley Triangle 165 60 Mozart Numbers 167 61 Hyperspace Prisons 168 62 Triangular Numbers 170 63 Hexagonal Cats 173 64 The X-Files Number 177 65 A Low-Calorie Treat 179 66 The Hunt for Elusive Squarions 182 67 Katydid Sequences 185 68 Pentagonal Pie 186 69 An A? 188 70 Humble Bits 192 71 Mr. Fibonacci's Neighborhood 194 72 Apocalyptic Numbers 197 73 The Wonderful Emirp, 1,597 199 74 The Big Brain of Brahmagupta 201 75 1,001 Scheherazades 203 76 73,939,133 205 77 [omitted] Numbers from Los Alamos 206 78 Creator Numbers [omitted] 208 79 Princeton Numbers 210 80 Parasite Numbers 214 81 Madonna's Number Sequence 215 82 Apocalyptic Powers 216 83 The Leviathan Number [omitted] 217 84 The Safford Number: 365,365,365,365,365,365 218 85 The Aliens from Independence Day 219 86 One Decillion Cheerios 222 87 Undulation in Monaco 223 88 The Latest Gossip on Narcissistic Numbers 225 89 The abcdefghij Problem 226 90 Grenade Stacking 227 91 The 450-Pound Problem 228 92 The Hunt for Primes in Pi 230 93 Schizophrenic Numbers 231 94 Perfect, Amicable, and Sublime Numbers 233 95 Prime Cycles and [omitted] 237 96 Cards, Frogs, and Fractal Sequences 238 97 Fractal Checkers 243 98 Doughnut Loops 245 99 Everything You Wanted to Know about Triangles but Were Afraid to Ask 247 100 Cavern Genesis as a Self-Organizing System 250 101 Magic Squares, Tesseracts, and Other Oddities 254 102 Fabergé Eggs Synthesis 260 103 Beauty and Gaussian Rational Numbers 264 104 A Brief History of Smith Numbers 268 105 Alien Ice Cream 269 PART IV: THE PERUVIAN COLLECTION 272 106 The Huascarán Box 273 107 The Intergalactic Zoo 274 108 The Lobsterman from Lima 275 109 The Incan Tablets 276 110 Chinchilla Overdrive 278 111 Peruvian Laser Battle 279 112 The Emerald Gambit 280 113 Wise Viracocha 281 114 Zoologic 283 115 Andromeda Incident 284 116 Yin or Yang 286 117 A Knotty Challenge at Tacna 287 118 An Incident at Chavín de Huántar 288 119 An Odd Symmetry 289 120 The Monolith at Madre de Dios 291 121 Amazon Dissection 292 122 3 Weird Problems with 3 293 123 Zen Archery 296 124 Treadmills and Gears 297 125 Anchovy Marriage Test 299 Further Exploring 302 Further Reading 401 About the Author 412 Index 414 A 414 B 414 C 414 D 414 E 414 F 415 G 415 H 415 I 415 K 415 L 415 M 415 N 416 O 416 P 416 Q 417 R 417 S 417 T 417 U 417 V 417 W 417 X 417 Y 417 Z 417 9780195133424 If we actually received messages from the stars, what would we do with them? Who were the five strangest mathematicians in history? What are the ten most interesting numbers? Who is the Number King? Jam-packed with thought-provoking mathematical mysteries, puzzles, and games-as well as the answers to all of the above questions-Wonders of Numbers will enchant even the most left-brained of readers.

Hosted by the quirky Dr. Googol-who resides on an island in Sri Lanka and occasionally collaborates with Clifford Pickover-Wonders of Numbers focuses on creativity and the delight of discovery. Here is a potpourri of common and unusual number theory problems of varying difficulty-each presented in brief chapters that convey to readers the essence of the problem rather than the extraneous, convoluted history of it. Want to know about undulating numbers? Turn to Chapter 53 and in just a few pages you'll have a quick challenge. Interested in Fibonacci numbers? Turn to Chapter 74 for the same. Peppered throughout with illustrations that clarify many of the problems, Wonders of Numbers also includes fascinating math gossip. How would we use numbers to communicate with aliens? Check out Chapter 31. What are the five saddest mathematical scandals? You'll find them in Chapter 35. Did you know that there is a Numerical Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder? There is, and it's in Chapter 46.

Indeed, each chapter in Wonders of Numbers is a paradox and a mystery. From the beautiful formula of India's most famous mathematician to the Leviathan number so big it makes a trillion look small, Dr. Googol's witty, disarming, and straightforward approach to numbers will entice students, educators, and scientists alike to pick up a pencil and work a problem.

About the Author:
Clifford A. Pickover is Research Staff Member at the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center. An associate editor of several journals, prolific inventor, and puzzle columnist for magazines such as Discover, Pickover is the author of many best-selling books on popular science topics. He lives in Yorktown Heights, New York.

"Wonders of Numbers focuses on creativity and the delight of discovery. Here is a potpourri of common and unusual number theory problems of varying difficulty - each presented in brief chapters that convey to readers the essence of the problem rather than the extraneous, convoluted history of it. Peppered throughout with illustrations that clarify many of the problems, Wonders of Numbers also includes fascinating "math gossip." Each chapter in Wonders of Numbers is a paradox and a mystery. From the beautiful formula of India's most famous mathematician to the Leviathan number to big it makes a trillion look small, Dr