Prime Numbers Get Hitched

Seed Magazine ^ | Feb/Mar 2006 | Marcus du Sautoy

[AntiGuv]

prime ping?

;^)

[muir_redwoods]

"But the important role played by the number 42 has recently persuaded even the deepest skeptics that the subatomic world might hold the key to one of the greatest unsolved problems in mathematics."

Paging Douglas Addams

[tang-soo]

role played by the number 42 has recently persuaded

No Way!!! This is hilarious, the ultimate answer! God Bless Douglas Adams.

[muawiyah]

Mathematics is not science?

Who told you that?

[dhs12345]

Humans are remarkable. We have the ability to view nature in a way that is very abstract and very often correct.

More than just random chance (IMHO).

[stylin19a]

And of course, everyone knows the Primes went on to become the Temptations.

[stands2reason]

I knew that something about the number 42 sounded "right" to me somehow. How did he know?

RIP DNA

[Psycho_Bunny]

42

[patton]

There exists a simple, algebraic proof to fermat - I just don't have room for it in this post...

[burzum]

I would agree with the statement that mathematics is not science because it doesn't follow the scientific method. You don't observe data, make a hypothesis, test it, and form a theory. In mathematics you just work from theorem to theorem based on axioms. While you can do something similar in the sciences, you are always constrained to the fact that if your theory doesn't match your data, the theory is wrong. In mathematics, the theorem *makes* the data.

[stacytec]

I understand that quantum mechanics can also cook a mean omelet.

[tophat9000]

bump

[Vicomte13]

I read it.
I reread it.
And I couldn't help thinking..."this article is about Prime Numbers, and they're talking about the number 42".
Which isn't a prime number.
I suppose it's the product of the first three primes.
Certainly the article could have added a little but more that air of hocus-pocus mystery (without, however, saying anything), by adding that detail, with a suitably raised editorial eyebrow of course.

[AmishDude]

But it's the mathematical model that predicts the experimental results that gives the answer. It has to be. "Look at this picture" doesn't suffice in mathematics.

It's much like using a computer to get solution to some finite values. That gives you great instinct as to what the solution is, but you still need the proof.

[RightWhale]

We have the ability to view nature in a way that is very abstract and very often correct.

If that were so, we wouldn't pay anybody to be a scientist. That we don't see nature very well at all makes scientists valuable.

[stacytec]

http://www.pithemovie.com/

[Buck W.]

Ha! Inside joke for mathematicians!
Never heard of Seed magazine. Anyone know if it's generally worth reading?

[Vicomte13]

Oh hell, while I'm add it, I ought to add more hocus pocus and mystery.

42 has dramatic religious significance because it is the product of the first TRINITY of Primes!
And indeed, the first prime and second prime, multiplied together, produce 6, the number of man! So, the primes produce a man! But then the very next prime, following intimately and immediately thereafter, is the very next number, 7! The divine seven, the holy spirit following the product of the first two. Now, multiply the trinity of father, son and holy spirit primes (so to speak), and you get 42!!! The divine product of the number of man 6 (Which is the product itself of the first pair of primes, father and son), and 7, the holy spirit of primes!
Even more mysteriously, the sum of the digits of the product of the First Trinity of Primes is...SIX! Man re-emerges!
Holy bubbling bongwater, Batman!!!

[dhs12345]

However, I believe that all possess the ability. Just that there are people who are more able than others. And yes, they get paid for it, albeit not that well sometimes. But their reward isn't money, is it?