“39: This appears to be the first uninteresting number, which of course makes it an especially interesting number, because it is the smallest number to have the property of being uninteresting. It is therefore also the first number to be simultaneously interesting and uninteresting.” — David Wells, The Penguin Dictionary of Curious and Interesting Numbers (1986), entry for “39”, pg. 120
He Say, He Sigh, He Sow #14
by Krilling for Company in Mathematics, Post-Weird, Quotations and tagged 39, David Wells, first uninteresting number, interesting number, math, mathematics, maths, number, numbers, Penguin Dictionary of Curious and Interesting Numbers, simultaneously interesting and uninteresting, thirty-nine |
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