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| A googol has no particular significance in mathematics, but is useful when comparing with other very large quantities such as the number of ] in the visible universe or the number of hypothetically possible ] moves. Edward Kasner used it to illustrate the difference between an unimaginably large number and ], and in this role it is sometimes used in teaching mathematics. | A googol has no particular significance in mathematics, but is useful when comparing with other very large quantities such as the number of ] in the visible universe or the number of hypothetically possible ] moves. Edward Kasner used it to illustrate the difference between an unimaginably large number and ], and in this role it is sometimes used in teaching mathematics. | ||
| ==History== | |||
| In 1938, ]'s nine-year-old nephew, Milton Sirotta, coined the term '']'', then proposed the further term ''googolplex'' to be "one, followed by writing zeroes until you get tired". Kasner decided to adopt a more formal definition "because different people get tired at different times and it would never do to have ] be a better mathematician than ], simply because he had more endurance and could write for longer".<ref>Edward Kasner & James R. Newman (1940) ], page 23, NY: Simon & Schuster</ref> It thus became standardized to <math>10^{(10^{100})}</math>. | |||
| ==In popular culture== | ==In popular culture== | ||
Revision as of 23:29, 18 December 2011
Template:Two other uses A googol is the Large number 10, that is, the digit 1 followed by 100 zeros:
- 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
The term was coined in 1938 by 9-year-old Milton Sirotta (1929–1981), nephew of American mathematician Edward Kasner. Kasner popularized the concept in his book Mathematics and the Imagination (1940).
Other names for googol include ten duotrigintillion on the short scale, ten thousand sexdecillion on the long scale, or ten sexdecilliard on the Peletier long scale.
A googol has no particular significance in mathematics, but is useful when comparing with other very large quantities such as the number of subatomic particles in the visible universe or the number of hypothetically possible chess moves. Edward Kasner used it to illustrate the difference between an unimaginably large number and infinity, and in this role it is sometimes used in teaching mathematics.
In popular culture
- The company name Google is an alteration of the word "Googol" made by founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, as described in the book The Google Story by David A. Vise.
- Googol was the answer to the million pound question on 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire' when Major Charles Ingram cheated to win the game
See also
References
- Kasner, Edward and Newman, James R. (1940). Mathematics and the Imagination. Simon and Schuster, New York. ISBN 0486417034.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Brin, S. and Page, L. (1998). The anatomy of a large-scale hypertextual Web search engine. Computer Networks and ISDN Systems, 30(1-7):107–117
External links
| Large numbers | |||||
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| Examples in numerical order | |||||
| Expression methods |
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| Related articles (alphabetical order) | |||||