Freaky Math
Monday, August 10, 2009
Derrick Niederman, author of Number Freak: From 1 to 200, The Hidden Language of Numbers Revealed, shares his intense love of integers. As he explains, every number 1-200 tells a story, except maybe the number 138.
7 > One basic test for dementia onset is asking patients to subtract 7 from 100.
17 > There are 17 different symmetric patterns of wall paper.
19 > There are 19 holes in sink or lavatory drains, arranged symmetrically, they are a hexagon.
34 > The theoretical maximum number of Senate contests in any particular election year is 34.
40 > Is the only number whose letters are in alphabetical order when written out in English: abcdeFghijklmnOpqRsTuvwxYz.
42 > The computer Deep Thought in Douglas Adam’s Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy calculates the Ultimate Answer to the Great Question is 42.
50 > The show Hawaii Five-O comes from Hawaii being the 50th state.
81 > The number 81 appears on Hell’s Angels insignia because 'H' is the 8th and “A” the 1st number in the alphabet.
Listen to The Brian Lehrer Show segment:
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