chas@gtss.UUCP (Charles Cleveland) (09/12/85)
In article <693@tpvax.fluke.UUCP> inc@fluke.UUCP (Gary Benson) writes: >One last thing, while I'm on the topic of numbers: someone told me once that >the number 42 has some special mathematical significance, but I forget what >it is. It is the answer a computer named "Deep Thought" gave to the >question, "What is the meaning of life, the universe and everything?" in the >novel _Hitchhikers_Guide_to_the_Galaxy_. Does anyone know why the author >chose this number? Or what it's mathematical significance might be? Am I correct in supposing that Gary has just asked what the question is to which 42 is the answer? (:-) Readers of Hitchhiker's Guide may be amused. Anyway, at least one of these questions might find answerers faster in net.sf-lovers. -- Charles Cleveland Georgia Tech Surface Studies Georgia Tech School of Physics Atlanta, GA 30332 ...!{akgua,allegra,amd,hplabs,ihnp4,masscomp,ut-ngp}!gatech!gtss!chas ...!{rlgvax,sb1,uf-cgrl,unmvax,ut-sally}!gatech!gtss!chas chas%gtss@gatech.CSNET gtss!chas%gatech.CSNET@csnet-relay.ARPA