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Copied (and modified for formatting) From: BBC Radio 4 - 5 Numbers
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/5numbers.shtml
5 Numbers
Programme 1: Zero
What's 2 minus 2? The answer is obvious, right? But not if you wore
a tunic, no socks and lived in Ancient Greece. For strange as it
sounds, 'nothing' had to be invented, and then it took thousands
of years to catch on.
Programme 2: Pi
At its simplest, Pi is the ratio of the circumference of a circle
to its diameter. At its most complex, it is an irrational number
that cannot be expressed as the ratio of two whole numbers and has
a random decimal string of infinite length.
Programme 3: The Golden Ratio
Divide any number in the Fibonacci sequence (1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13,
21, 34, 55) by the one before it and the answer is always close
to 1.618 the Golden Ratio.
Programme 4: The Imaginary 'i'
The imaginary number takes mathematics to another dimension. It
was discovered in sixteenth century Italy at a time when being a
mathematician was akin to being a modern day rock star. The puzzle
of the day was: "If the square root of +1 is both +1 and -1,
then what is the square root of -1?"
Programme 5: Infinity
Given the old maxim about an infinite number of monkeys and typewriters,
one can assume that said simian digits will type up the following
line from Hamlet an infinite number of times:
"I could confine myself to a nutshell and declare myself king
of infinity".
5 Numbers Quiz:
What number are you?
So you've read about five of the greatest numbers in the history
of the world ever. But which number are you? Play our number game
to reveal secrets about your inner self that you never dreamed of.
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