I got a book at the library yesterday called Men of Mathematics: The Lives and Achievements of the Great Mathematicians from Zeno to Poincare, by E.T. Bell. I doubt I'll finish all 580 pages of it. However, I did start it...which is more than I can say for some books I spontaneously pick off the library shelf!
Here are some quotes I liked from the beginning of the book:
A mathematical truth is neither simple nor complicated in itself, it is. -- Emile Lemoine
It is easier to square the circle than to get round a mathematician. -- Augustus de Morgan
It is a safe rule to apply that, when a mathematical or philosophical author writes with a misty profundity, he is talking nonsense. -- A.N. Whitehead (1911)
I didn't understand all the quotes, and I probably should have looked up profundity before saying I liked the quote!
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Now for a fun challenge for those learning to multiply large numbers: How many seconds old are you?
This is VERY approximate!
The formula is:
Age in years x 365 days x 24 hours x 60 minutes x 60 seconds
If you want to be a little more accuate, you can use a decimal after your age (for example 10.75) and 365.25 for the days in a year.
Oh, and in case you're wondering, I'm approximately 1,072,224,000 seconds old. To me, that is a meaningless number. However, when I look at days and hours (12,410 and 297,840 respectively), I feel like I could
a) DO something in an hour...I have so many! and b) like I've wasted a lot of time!
2 comments:
Wow, I feel like I've wasted a lot of time too! Sounds like a fun problem to figure out though. Thanks for sharing.
Cool... we will try this out and get back with you....
the numbers sure makeone "loo" old.... maybe I wont. lol
Hope you are having a grand week.... did you get my schedule?
Lisa, your KS friend....
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