Somebody usually comes up with a fun quiz around about now! Anybody got one doing the rounds at work? (:o)

-- Anonymous, December 06, 2001

Answers

Advent Participation.

-- Anonymous, December 06, 2001

I was holding a 'guess when Marca will leave' comp...

-- Anonymous, December 07, 2001

LOL! (:o) Don`t want one that will be too difficult to guess! (;o)

-- Anonymous, December 07, 2001

I think that's what that bloke was trying to work out when he accidentally stumbled across the longest prime number.

-- Anonymous, December 07, 2001

Read an interesting book (no, really ;-)) called Goldbach's Conjecture or something, about a mathematician trying to prove that every even integer greater than 4 can be expressed as the sum of two odd prime numbers, and going mad in the process. It's one of these things that should be simple to do, but isn't. I suppose because prime numbers seem to be so elusive and difficult to pin down, they have a sort of magical quality. If you're really sad, visit http://www.primepuzzles.net/

-- Anonymous, December 07, 2001

"two odd prime numbers" ... are there any other kind? (cue argument about 0)

-- Anonymous, December 07, 2001

and also why not 4 or is my understanding of 1 as a prime number suspect

-- Anonymous, December 07, 2001

4...eh? can be divided by 1 and 2...

2 can only be divided by 1 and itself...that's even...

-- Anonymous, December 07, 2001

Hmmmmm .... interesting. So that`s how many beans make five then? (;o)

-- Anonymous, December 07, 2001

No no Gav its not s even, seven is a prime number.

-- Anonymous, December 07, 2001

Well I`ve had a peek, Pete, and it scared the living daylights out of me! Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of, say, a Christmas `pop` quiz......(;o)

-- Anonymous, December 07, 2001

You're braver than me, Galaxy. All that number talk is making my head explode. ;-))

-- Anonymous, December 07, 2001

It is so `over my head` Ciara, that I wouldn`t even know how to make fun of it! Well, each to their own, I suppose. (:o)

-- Anonymous, December 07, 2001

bollocks "two odd prime numbers" have got to sum to an even number.

went to the web site, check out the gordon lee puzzle. i'm serious!

-- Anonymous, December 07, 2001

Blimey - number theory on the BBS!

Here's another unsolved problem - Collatz's Conjecture.

Take any whole number.

If it is even divide by 2.

If odd, multiply by 3 and add 1

Continue doing this.

The conjecture is that you will always end with 1.

Example 11,34,17,52,26,13,40,20,10,5,16,8,4,2,1.

If you prove this you'll be famous for doing something absolutely pointless - but thats what I specialize in!

-- Anonymous, December 07, 2001

Morning True. I`ve just seen your posting and I`m fascinated. Not with the problem you set, but with the fact that this is your specialist field. My Dad was a natural with maths, and though he went into marine and mechanical engineering, he always said that he would have loved to have studied pure maths at University. He used to enjoy playing with numbers theories as a hobby. He also used to despair that his mathematical abilities had not manifested themselves in my sister or I. However, much to his delight, my sisters eldest daughter does have the `gene`, and he was really hoping that she would go on and do pure maths at Uni. As it happens she decided to do Management or Business Studies or some such degree, and has just finished her first term at Warwick.

Now Dad`s thinking was that if you had a pure maths degree, you could move into any field and people would be clamouring for your expertise. My question is, what `fields? I can only think that you would need it for, say, proving theories in physics. I realise that `physics` covers a multitude of disciplines, but what other areas of industry, commerce, life in general, require a knowledge of such advanced or speculative maths?

This is an honest question, not a wind up.(:o)

-- Anonymous, December 08, 2001

I know of one uni where they no longer run maths as a degree subject on it's own. The maths is taught as units in whatever discipline it's needed.

You're right but, I tried some OU maths courses just out of interest and found the pure maths particularly interesting, but no way would i ever have been able to drag the maths along behind me. It was as much as I could do to be dragged along by it.

-- Anonymous, December 08, 2001

Hi Galaxy, Number theory is not my real specialism (I am a piecewise linear Topologist for which there is absolutely no use). However I have worked in it as I love the subject. Unfortunately there are many applications of number theory - why can't they keep their grubby hands off it- in coding theory and such like. For example the proof of Fermat's Last Theorem shows the existenceof some very powerful coding techniques. Yes, if they are good there are good opportunities for well trained mathematicians - finance, systems analysis, computing.
However most are introverted anti-social creatures with no clothes sense, with bad dandruff and wear socks with sandals and end up in Universities where they are tolerated to some extent. Even there they are being squeezed out - maths is difficult and that would never do these days. Catching maths is a disease.


-- Anonymous, December 08, 2001

`I`m a piecewise linear TOPOLOGIST`..........Well hell, I`m impressed, I`d love to be able to say I was one of those, even if it is of `no use` (bet it is though)!!!(;o)

Thanks for the insight True - however, I suspect, along with ritual body piercing and post menopausal pregnancy, this is an area where I shall remain blissfully inexperienced!

I do worry about my niece though, she does maths for fun!!! Time Yelli took her to one side and talked her into a tattoo or something, you know `normal` for her age! And now, yes, I am poking fun a bit, but only because I feel such an inadequate! ({:o))

Pit Bill - you have a dark side too then? Dabbling in mathematics - actually I`m rather impressed that you had the nerve.(:o)

-- Anonymous, December 08, 2001

i'm rather impressed he had the intellect!

-- Anonymous, December 08, 2001