reid (10/07/82)
American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: googol: The number 10 raised to the power 100; The number 1 followed by 100 zeros. [coined by Edward Kasner, American mathematician] googolplex: The number 10 raised to the power googol; the number 1 followed by 10^100 zeros. [googol + (du)plex] Glenn Reid ...harpo!seismo!uwvax!reid P.S. This should, I think, end all speculation.
hjb (10/07/82)
In Kasner's book where he coins the word googol, he mentions that he got the term from his infant son. Harry Benson