Who were the five strangest mathematicians in history? What are the ten most interesting numbers? Jam-packed with thought-provoking mathematical mysteries, puzzles, and games, Wonders of Numbers will enchant even the most left-brained of readers. Hosted by the quirky Dr. Googol--who resides on a remote island and occasionally collaborates with Clifford Pickover--Wonders of Numbers focuses on creativity and the delight of discovery. Here is a potpourri of common and unusual number theory problems of varying difficulty--each presented inbrief chapters that convey to readers the essence of the problem rather than its extraneous history. Peppered throughout with illustrations that clarify the problems, Wonders of Numbers also includes fascinating "math gossip." How would we use numbers to communicate with aliens? Check out Chapter30. Did you know that there is a Numerical Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder? You'll find it in Chapter 45. From the beautiful formula of India's most famous mathematician to the Leviathan number so big it makes a trillion look small, Dr. Googol's witty and straightforward approach to numbers will entice students, educators, and scientists alike to pick up a pencil and work a problem.

Clifford A. Pickover received his Ph.D. from Yale University and is the author of over twenty-five highly-acclaimed popular science books. Pickover is a prolific inventor, the associate editor for several journals, and puzzle creator for magazines and his own puzzle calendars. His web site, Pickover.com, has received over 500,000 visits. He lives in Yorktown Heights, New York.

Fun Puzzles and Quick Thoughts
Attack of the Amateurs	p. 2
Why Don't We Use Roman Numerals Anymore?	p. 6
In a Casino	p. 11
The Ultimate Bible Code	p. 12
How Much Blood?	p. 13
Where Are the Ants?	p. 15
Spidery Math	p. 16
Lost in Hyperspace	p. 18
Along Came a Spider	p. 19
Numbers beyond Imagination	p. 20
Cupid's Arrow	p. 22
Poseidon Arrays	p. 23
Scales of Justice	p. 24
Mystery Squares	p. 26
Quincunx	p. 27
Jerusalem Overdrive	p. 33
The Pipes of Papua	p. 34
The Fractal Society	p. 38
The Triangle Cycle	p. 41
IQ-Block	p. 42
Riffraff	p. 44
Klingon Paths	p. 46
Ouroboros Autophagy	p. 47
Interview with a Number	p. 49
The Dream-Worms of Atlantis	p. 50
Satanic Cycles	p. 52
Persistence	p. 54
Hallucinogenic Highways	p. 55
Quirky Questions, Lists, and Surveys
Why Was the First Woman Mathematician Murdered?	p. 58
What If We Receive Messages from the Stars?	p. 60
A Ranking of the 5 Strangest Mathematicians Who Ever Lived	p. 63
Einstein, Ramanujan, Hawking	p. 66
A Ranking of the 8 Most Influential Female Mathematicians	p. 69
A Ranking of the 5 Saddest Mathematical Scandals	p. 73
The 10 Most Important Unsolved Mathematical Problems	p. 74
A Ranking of the 10 Most Influential Mathematicians Who Ever Lived	p. 78
What Is Godel's Mathematical Proof of the Existence of God?	p. 82
A Ranking of the 10 Most Influential Mathematicians Alive Today	p. 84
A Ranking of the 10 Most Interesting Numbers	p. 88
The Unabomber's 10 Most Mathematical Technical Papers	p. 91
The 10 Mathematical Formulas That Changed the Face of the World	p. 93
The 10 Most Difficult-to-Understand Areas of Mathematics	p. 98
The 10 Strangest Mathematical Titles Ever Published	p. 101
The 15 Most Famous Transcendental Numbers	p. 103
What Is Numerical Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder?	p. 106
Who Is the Number King?	p. 109
What 1 Question Would You Add?	p. 112
Cube Maze	p. 113
Fiendishly Difficult Digital Delights
Hailstone Numbers	p. 116
The Spring of Khosrow Carpet	p. 119
The Omega Prism	p. 121
The Incredible Hunt for Double Smoothly Undulating Integers	p. 123
Alien Snow: A Tour of Checkerboard Worlds	p. 124
Beauty, Symmetry, and Pascal's Triangle	p. 130
Audioactive Decay	p. 134
Dr. Googol's Prime Plaid	p. 138
Saippuakauppias	p. 140
Emordnilap Numbers	p. 142
The Dudley Triangle	p. 144
Mozart Numbers	p. 146
Hyperspace Prisons	p. 147
Triangular Numbers	p. 149
Hexagonal Cats	p. 152
The X-Files Number	p. 156
A Low-Calorie Treat	p. 158
The Hunt for Elusive Squarions	p. 161
Katydid Sequences	p. 164
Pentagonal Pie	p. 165
An A?	p. 167
Humble Bits	p. 171
Mr. Fibonacci's Neighborhood	p. 173
Apocalyptic Numbers	p. 176
The Wonderful Emirp, 1,597	p. 178
The Big Brain of Brahmagupta	p. 180
1,001 Scheherazades	p. 182
73,939,133	p. 184
[characters not reproducible]-Numbers from Los Alamos	p. 185
Creator Numbers [characters not reproducible]	p. 187
Princeton Numbers	p. 189
Parasite Numbers	p. 193
Madonna's Number Sequence	p. 194
Apocalyptic Powers	p. 195
The Leviathan Number [characters not reproducible]	p. 196
The Safford Number: 365,365,365,365,365,365	p. 197
The Aliens from Independence Day	p. 198
One Decillion Cheerios	p. 201
Undulation in Monaco	p. 202
The Latest Gossip on Narcissistic Numbers	p. 204
The abcdefghij Problem	p. 205
Grenade Stacking	p. 206
The 450-Pound Problem	p. 207
The Hunt for Primes in Pi	p. 209
Schizophrenic Numbers	p. 210
Perfect, Amicable, and Sublime Numbers	p. 212
Prime Cycles and [characters not reproducible]	p. 216
Cards, Frogs, and Fractal Sequences	p. 217
Fractal Checkers	p. 222
Doughnut Loops	p. 224
Everything You Wanted to Know about Triangles but Were Afraid to Ask	p. 226
Cavern Genesis as a Self-Organizing System	p. 229
Magic Squares, Tesseracts, and Other Oddities	p. 233
Faberge Eggs Synthesis	p. 239
Beauty and Gaussian Rational Numbers	p. 243
A Brief History of Smith Numbers	p. 247
Alien Ice Cream	p. 248
The Peruvian Collection
The Huascaran Box	p. 252
The Intergalactic Zoo	p. 253
The Lobsterman from Lima	p. 254
The Incan Tablets	p. 255
Chinchilla Overdrive	p. 257
Peruvian Laser Battle	p. 258
The Emerald Gambit	p. 259
Wise Viracocha	p. 260
Zoologic	p. 262
Andromeda Incident	p. 263
Yin or Yang	p. 265
A Knotty Challenge at Tacna	p. 266
An Incident at Chavin de Huantar	p. 267
An Odd Symmetry	p. 268
The Monolith at Madre de Dios	p. 270
Amazon Dissection	p. 271
3 Weird Problems with 3	p. 272
Zen Archery	p. 275
Treadmills and Gears	p. 276
Anchovy Marriage Test	p. 278
Further Exploring	p. 281
Further Reading	p. 380
About the Author	p. 391
Index	p. 393
Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved.

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