viernes, 25 de septiembre de 2020

For Math Fans: A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Number 42 - Scientific American

For Math Fans: A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Number 42 - Scientific American



Fun facts about 42

Since it was humorously deemed to be the answer to “Life, the Universe and Everything” by author Douglas Adams in the book The Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy, 42 has been crowned the most famous of the not-particularly-interesting numbers. Computer scientist Jean-Paul Delahaye injects the number with added glamour by exploring its more evidence-based qualities. It’s 101010 in binary, which is sort of nice, and it is the sum of the first three odd powers of 2 (21 + 23 + 25 = 42). And wow, it’s the sum of three cubes! Which ones, I’ll leave as an exercise for the reader.
Scientific American | 11 min read

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