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Prime Numbers Get Hitched
Seed Magazine ^
| Feb/Mar 2006
| Marcus du Sautoy
Posted on 04/11/2006 3:08:56 PM PDT by LibWhacker
click here to read article
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To: PatrickHenry
2
posted on
04/11/2006 3:10:58 PM PDT
by
AntiGuv
(The 1967 UN Outer Space Treaty is bad for America and bad for humanity - DUMP IT!)
To: LibWhacker
"But the important role played by the number 42 has recently persuaded even the deepest skeptics that the subatomic world might hold the key to one of the greatest unsolved problems in mathematics."Paging Douglas Addams
3
posted on
04/11/2006 3:11:53 PM PDT
by
muir_redwoods
(Free Sirhan Sirhan, after all, the bastard who killed Mary Jo Kopechne is walking around free)
To: LibWhacker
role played by the number 42 has recently persuaded
No Way!!! This is hilarious, the ultimate answer! God Bless Douglas Adams.
4
posted on
04/11/2006 3:15:26 PM PDT
by
tang-soo
(Prophecy of the Seventy Weeks - Read Daniel Chapter 9)
To: CarolinaGuitarman
Mathematics is not science?
Who told you that?
5
posted on
04/11/2006 3:15:48 PM PDT
by
muawiyah
(-)
To: LibWhacker
Humans are remarkable. We have the ability to view nature in a way that is very abstract and very often correct.
More than just random chance (IMHO).
6
posted on
04/11/2006 3:17:19 PM PDT
by
dhs12345
To: LibWhacker
And of course, everyone knows the Primes went on to become the Temptations.
7
posted on
04/11/2006 3:17:59 PM PDT
by
stylin19a
(I never put my foot in my mouth...I shoot that sucker off long before it gets anywhere near my mouth)
To: muir_redwoods
I knew that something about the number 42 sounded "right" to me somehow. How did he know?
RIP DNA
To: LibWhacker
42
9
posted on
04/11/2006 3:18:33 PM PDT
by
Psycho_Bunny
(The MSM is a hate group and we are the object of their disdain.)
To: LibWhacker
There exists a simple, algebraic proof to fermat - I just don't have room for it in this post...
10
posted on
04/11/2006 3:19:14 PM PDT
by
patton
(Once you steal a firetruck, there's really not much else you can do except go for a joyride.)
To: muawiyah
I would agree with the statement that mathematics is not science because it doesn't follow the scientific method. You don't observe data, make a hypothesis, test it, and form a theory. In mathematics you just work from theorem to theorem based on axioms. While you can do something similar in the sciences, you are always constrained to the fact that if your theory doesn't match your data, the theory is wrong. In mathematics, the theorem *makes* the data.
11
posted on
04/11/2006 3:21:49 PM PDT
by
burzum
(A single reprimand does more for a man of intelligence than a hundred lashes for a fool.--Prov 17:10)
To: LibWhacker
I understand that quantum mechanics can also cook a mean omelet.
12
posted on
04/11/2006 3:22:19 PM PDT
by
stacytec
(Nihilism, its whats for dinner)
To: LibWhacker
13
posted on
04/11/2006 3:23:06 PM PDT
by
tophat9000
(Illegals:”The Road to Serfdom” for the nation via Elites & Elect importing “better” serf’s)
To: LibWhacker
I read it.
I reread it.
And I couldn't help thinking..."this article is about Prime Numbers, and they're talking about the number 42".
Which isn't a prime number.
I suppose it's the product of the first three primes.
Certainly the article could have added a little but more that air of hocus-pocus mystery (without, however, saying anything), by adding that detail, with a suitably raised editorial eyebrow of course.
14
posted on
04/11/2006 3:23:40 PM PDT
by
Vicomte13
(Et alors?)
To: muawiyah
But it's the mathematical model that predicts the experimental results that gives the answer. It has to be. "Look at this picture" doesn't suffice in mathematics.
It's much like using a computer to get solution to some finite values. That gives you great instinct as to what the solution is, but you still need the proof.
15
posted on
04/11/2006 3:23:40 PM PDT
by
AmishDude
(AmishDude, servant of the dark lord Xenu.)
To: dhs12345
We have the ability to view nature in a way that is very abstract and very often correct. If that were so, we wouldn't pay anybody to be a scientist. That we don't see nature very well at all makes scientists valuable.
16
posted on
04/11/2006 3:24:31 PM PDT
by
RightWhale
(Off touch and out of base)
To: stacytec
17
posted on
04/11/2006 3:25:00 PM PDT
by
stacytec
(Nihilism, its whats for dinner)
To: patton
Ha! Inside joke for mathematicians!
Never heard of Seed magazine. Anyone know if it's generally worth reading?
18
posted on
04/11/2006 3:27:16 PM PDT
by
Buck W.
(Avoid Evian Flu--Don't Drink Bottled Water.)
To: Vicomte13
Oh hell, while I'm add it, I ought to add more hocus pocus and mystery.
42 has dramatic religious significance because it is the product of the first TRINITY of Primes!
And indeed, the first prime and second prime, multiplied together, produce 6, the number of man! So, the primes produce a man! But then the very next prime, following intimately and immediately thereafter, is the very next number, 7! The divine seven, the holy spirit following the product of the first two. Now, multiply the trinity of father, son and holy spirit primes (so to speak), and you get 42!!! The divine product of the number of man 6 (Which is the product itself of the first pair of primes, father and son), and 7, the holy spirit of primes!
Even more mysteriously, the sum of the digits of the product of the First Trinity of Primes is...SIX! Man re-emerges!
Holy bubbling bongwater, Batman!!!
19
posted on
04/11/2006 3:28:59 PM PDT
by
Vicomte13
(Et alors?)
To: RightWhale
However, I believe that all possess the ability. Just that there are people who are more able than others. And yes, they get paid for it, albeit not that well sometimes. But their reward isn't money, is it?
20
posted on
04/11/2006 3:31:28 PM PDT
by
dhs12345
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