Beautiful Numbers

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

I’ve heard it said that there are three kinds of mathematicians -- those who can count and those who can't.  

That seems to be getting more and more true. It used to be by the time we left school we all had a basic knowledge of arithmetic. Enough to count our change and balance our check books. Sadly that is no longer the case.

For most of us that was as far as mathematics went. For others it led to algebra, geometry, trigonometry, calculus and even something they called advanced maths.

But what we all missed in school, no matter whether our knowledge was basic or advanced, was the fact that numbers can sometimes be beautiful, both in what they can do and the patterns they can make.

Here are a few examples below that I hope you find at least a little bit interesting.

But first a joke. It’s a oldie and involves my old friend Dubya, who for many years provided me with an endless source of amusement. Damn I miss him for that! Anyway, here’s the joke….

President Bush's morning security briefing is wrapping up.  

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is concluding his part and says, "Finally, three Brazilian soldiers were killed yesterday near Baghdad."

"OH MY GOD!" shrieks Bush, and he buries his head in his hands for a seemingly interminable 30 seconds.  


Stunned at the unexpected display of emotion, the President's staff sits speechless, not sure how to react.

Finally, Bush looks up and asks Rumsfeld,

"How many is a brazillion?"

Now for the beautiful numbers

  3 x 37 = 111    and     1 + 1 + 1 =   3

  6 x 37 = 222    and     2 + 2 + 2 =   6

  9 x 37 = 333    and     3 + 3 + 3 =   9

12 x 37 = 444    and     4 + 4 + 4 = 12

15 x 37 = 555    and     5 + 5 + 5 = 15

18 x 37 = 666    and     6 + 6 + 6 = 18

21 x 37 = 777    and     7 + 7 + 7 = 21

24 x 37 = 888    and     8 + 8 + 8 = 24

27 x 37 = 999    and     9 + 9 + 9 = 27

1 x 1 = 1

11 x 11 = 121

111 x 111 = 12321

1111 x 1111 = 1234321

11111 x 11111 = 123454321

111111 x 111111 = 12345654321

1111111 x 1111111 = 1234567654321

11111111 x 11111111 = 123456787654321

111111111 x 111111111 = 12345678987654321

1 x 9 + 2 = 11

12 x 9 + 3 = 111

123 x 9 + 4 = 1111

1234 x 9 + 5 = 11111

12345 x 9 + 6 = 111111

123456 x 9 + 7 = 1111111

1234567 x 9 + 8 = 11111111

12345678 x 9 + 9 = 111111111

123456789 x 9 +10 = 1111111111

9 x 9 + 7 = 88

98 x 9 + 6 = 888

987 x 9 + 5 = 8888

9876 x 9 + 4 = 88888

98765 x 9 + 3 = 888888

987654 x 9 + 2 = 8888888

9876543 x 9 + 1 = 88888888

98765432 x 9 + 0 = 888888888

1 x 8 + 1 = 9

12 x 8 + 2 = 98

123 x 8 + 3 = 987

1234 x 8 + 4 = 9876

12345 x 8 + 5 = 98765

123456 x 8 + 6 = 987654

1234567 x 8 + 7 = 9876543

12345678 x 8 + 8 = 98765432

123456789 x 8 + 9 = 987654321

67 x 67 = 4489

667 x 667 = 444889

6667 x 6667 = 44448889

66667 x 66667 = 4444488889

666667 x 666667 = 444444888889

6666667 x 6666667 = 44444448888889

and so on

4 x 4 = 16

34 x 34 = 1156

334 x 334 = 111556

3334 x 3334 = 11115556

33334 x 33334 = 1111155556

A Truly Remarkable Number

Enter the number 999999 into your calculator, then divide it by seven. 

The result will be a mysterious number!

Throw a die (or randomly pick a number from 1 to 6) and multiply the result by the mysterious number.  

Arrange the digits of the product from lowest to highest from left to right to form a six-digit number.  

Intelligent Design

When in the Course of human Events, it becomes necessary for

one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected

them with another, and to assume, among the Powers of the Earth,

the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of

Nature's God entitle them, a descent Respect to the Opinions of

Mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel

them to the Separation.

Printed above is the first paragraph of the U.S. Declaration of Independence.  

Select any one of the first 20 words.  

Count the letters and call that number “n”.  

Move ahead “n” words, beginning with the word after your selected word.  

When you reach that “nth” word, count its letters and move ahead as many words as the new letter count.  

Continue in this manner, counting letters and moving ahead words, until you stop on a word that's beyond the fourth line. 

Do it as many times as you want, selecting a different word from the first 20 each time.