Comments on: Weird number

By: Richard Nieporent

Richard Nieporent — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 01:27:20 +0000

Right, PolishPlankton. I’m glad someone got the reference!

During an illness in England, Hardy visited Ramanujan in the hospital. When Hardy remarked that he had taken taxi number 1729, a singularly unexceptional number, Ramanujan immediately responded that this number was actually quite remarkable: it is the smallest integer that can be represented in two ways by the sum of two cubes: 1729=1^3+12^3=9^3+10^3.

By the way, Futurama contains several references to the Hardy–Ramanujan number.

http://theinfosphere.org/1729

By: Tom in GA

Tom in GA — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 01:11:55 +0000

I don’t care if everyone can do algebra. It’s perfectly fine in my opinion if a majority of society doesn’t know how to solve a quadratic equation, simplify a complex fraction, or graph a rational function.

I’m stunned at the willingness to accept stupidity when it comes to arithmetic however. Understanding and being able to manipulate fractions, decimals, and percentages should be a starting point for every adult in society. Numeracy is just as important as literacy.

By: Patti

Patti — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 23:06:43 +0000

Your anecdote reminded me of when someone asked me how old my toddler was and I told her that he was 18 months old. Her reply:

“18 months? How old is that really? Why do you parents always use months? Nobody knows how many years that is!”

By: Bart

Bart — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 17:23:06 +0000

Sorry, “…out from which the oxygen has already leaked.”

By: Bart

Bart — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 17:22:04 +0000

> I wondered just how the nitrogen is obtained.

They probably recover it from old tires from which the oxygen has already leaked out.

By: Sister Howitzer

Sister Howitzer — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 16:31:55 +0000

This reminds me of the Turkey problem.

By: momof4

momof4 — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:23:16 +0000

Neither my son nor I felt that the teenaged clerk was operating under a cognitive disability, although we might have been mistaken, but the department head certainly was not. Neither of them had learned the relationship between fractions and decimals. My two younger kids were exposed to it in school, although not expected to actually learn it, as their older siblings had done. That was done at home, along with the percentages.

By: Evil HR Lady

Evil HR Lady — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 10:51:15 +0000

It wouldn’t be the fraction thing that bothered me, it’s the non-full tank. I hate that. I always end up putting in more gas than I need to because you can’t tell while you’re pumping, where the little needle is.

So, I’d be bugged by the request. Just have everyone put the tank back to full.

By: PolishPlankton

PolishPlankton — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 10:34:33 +0000

Richard,

That would have been amazing! The lowest number that is the sum of two cubes, two different ways!

Ramanujan would have been impressed anyway.

By: Redkudu

Redkudu — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 04:56:34 +0000

>>”Hmm. I tend to take it easy on the grocery store folks. At least in our area, the local chains all hire a large number of people with cognitive disabilities — and pay them a union wage that allows them to pay some rent.”

>>”Thank you, Lightly Seasoned, for some perspective and a good counter example.”

Agreed. Same thing happens in my area.