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The Biggest Number in the World review: A brilliant guide to googology

The largest numbers are so huge you need special notation to write them down. David Darling and Agnijo Banerjee’s new book on big numbers will take you to the edge of mathematics

Humans



15 June 2022

Reaching far along the number line requires mathematical booster technology

Grant Faint/Getty Images

DR EVIL (aka Adam Elga) walked up to a blackboard in front of a packed auditorium at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and wrote a single 1. It was a slow but tactical start to the 2007 Big Number Duel, an event described on its posters as: “Two competitors. One chalkboard. Largest integer wins.”

The Mexican Multiplier (aka Agustin Rayo) wasn’t happy with such a slow start, so he filled in the blackboard with …


Source: Humans - newscientist.com

What quantum information and snowflakes have in common, and what we can do about it

Ultra-fast photonic computing processor uses polarization