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johncarlosbaez.wordpress.com
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#2Is this guy a, genius?
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#3Hurwitz's automorphisms theorem always astounds me. 84 is such a weird number to see in it. Fun fact: a group for which the maximum of 84(g-1) is reached is called a Hurwitz group. The Monster Group a Hurwitz group. So there is a Reimann surface of genus 9619255057077534236743570297163223297687552000000001 whose group of automorphisms (via orientation-preserving conformal mappings) is the Monster group. I don't even want to start trying to imagine that surface.
For more unlikely Monster Group fun, there's also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monstrous_moonshine.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monster_group http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurwitz%27s_automorphisms_theor...
Re: 42
#4Is this guy a, genius?
No. But its fun to play with numbers. One of the reasons I like 12, its so dividable.
Re: 42
#5Is this guy a, genius?
Every number has special properties :)
Edit: In fact, I'd be astounded to encounter a number that did not exhibit any special properties. Until, of course, one makes "having no special properties" a special property. In that case, I would no longer be astounded.
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#6Is this guy a, genius?
Yes.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_C._Baez for some basic background. See http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/ for more articles from him if you enjoyed this one.
One of my favorites is http://johncarlosbaez.wordpress.com/2012/12/27/our-galactic-... which describes our galactic neighborhood. Everyone knows that Alpha Centauri is our nearest star. But I bet you don't know a lot more about it. It is a much more complex place than I had realized.
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#7Is this guy a, genius?
Every number has special properties :) Edit: In fact, I'd be astounded to encounter a number that did not exhibit any special properties. Until, of course, one makes "having no special properties" a special property. In that case, I would no longer be astounded.
We proceed by induction. Clearly n=1 is special, as it divides every integer. Assume k is special. If k+1 is not special, then it is special, as it is the first non-special number to come after a special number. This is a contradiction; then k+1 is special. ■
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#8> But why is this stuff the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything? I’m not sure, but I have a crazy theory. Maybe all matter and forces are made of tiny little strings!
Come now, be serious!
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#9Is this guy a, genius?
He's a somewhat successful mathematician. Does that make him a genius?
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#1042 is the age after which women can not be expected (without the help of 21st century technology) to produce children.
And thus is exposed the meaning of the life the universe, and everything: "eat, stay alive, and produce more units that do the same". It is not your responsibility to decide what the meaning of life is, it is the universe's and physics responsibility to decide which loops are best at creating more eaters/stay-alivers/reproducers.