The Magic Numbers of the Professor

by O'shea, Owen; Dudley, Underwood

• ISBN13: 9780883855577
• ISBN10: 0883855577
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-03-31
• Publisher: Mathematical Assn of Amer

Summary

The Professor in Owen O'Shea's book is the imaginary American Richard Stein. As Owen O'Shea and the Professor travel through Ireland, O'Shea notes the Professor's collection of amazing magic numbers in fascinating detail. His mathematical curiosities are wide ranging, concerning the 1915 sinking of the Lusitania to coincidences about Apollo 11 to the first moon walk to new numerical curiosities. The new curiosities, among many others, center on Presidents Lincoln and Kennedy; the USA and Ireland; the two World Wars; the King James Version of the Bible, and James Joyce. The Number of the Beast, 666, is discussed as well, as are many new equations involving that famous number - all appearing here for the first time. And for those fascinated by games and gambling, a number of curious proposition bets involving dice, darts, and playing cards, and various mathematical puzzles are scattered throughout this singularly entertaining book.

Author Biography

Owen O'Shea was born in 1956 in Cobh, County Cork, Ireland. Owen (and his twin brother, Michael) was the youngest of a family of eleven children. Owen has said that his parents and family lived on a modest income, but that his parents were hardworking and honest. His father wa a non-commissioned officer in the Irish Naval Service. Owen's mother was a psychiatric nurse in London before she was married. Owen O'Shea is a single person. He is employed as a civilian employee in the Department of Defense in Ireland. In his younger days Owen lectured occasionally on recreational mathematics to university students. He also frequently at that time voluntarily assisted various people in his community (particularly senior citizens) to complete forms in the area of social welfare, pensions and tax to ensure that these persons obtained their legitimate entitlements from the Irish State. Owen is the author of a number of newspaper articles that appeared in Ireland in recent years. These articles ranged from such diverse topics as to how the date of Easter is calculated to a biographical sketch of Martin Luther King Jr. Owen has a wide range of hobbies. His first love is, of course, recreational mathematics. He is also interested in collecting and spotting strange coincidence. His other interests include mathematical magic, science, astronomy, nature, philosophy, poetry, conjuring, word play, and history. This is Owen's first book. He says that he will be very pleased if those who read this book enjoy it as much as he has enjoyed writing it. Underwood Dudley earned his B.S. and M.S. degrees from the Carnegie Institute of Technology and his doctorate (in number theory) from the University of Michigan. He taught briefly at the Ohio State University and than at DePauw University from 1967-2004. Woody has written six books and many papers, reviews, and commentaries. he has served is many editing positions, including editor of The Pi Mu Epsilon Journal, 1993-96 and The College Mathematics Journal, 1999-2003. He is widely known and admired for his speaking abilityùespecially his ability to find humor in mathematics. Hi was the PME J. Sutherland Frame lecturer in 1992 and the MAA P=lya lecturer in 1995-96. Woody's contributions to mathematics have earned him many awards, including the Trevor Evans award, from the MAA in 1996, the Distinguished Service Award, from the Indiana Section of the MAA in 2000, and the Meritorious Service Award, from the MAA in 2004..

Table of Contents

Foreword by Martin Gardner

Introduction

Digit curiosities

The 9/11 atrocities

The Professor speaks on the U. S. and Ireland

Curiosities in armed conflicts

Number and word palindromes

The U. S.-Iraq war

The number of the Beast

Curios of the Lusitania and other curious matters

Wordplay and other curiosities

New coincidences on Lincoln and Kennedy

Dart and card curiosities

The Professor gives some number patterns

The King James Bible and some currency curiosities

The Professor at the university

Index

About the authors

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.