The Number Devil: A Mathematical Adventure

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rather an informal word summary that hopefully touches upon the key aspects of the meaning and usage of 666 a b Pakenham, Michael (11 October 1998). "Does your head need exercise? Here's just the book for you". The Baltimore Sun . Retrieved 3 September 2011. An illustration by Rotraut Susanne Berner depicts the Number Devil showing a mathematical proof to Robert.

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Auclaire-Meier, Sebastien. " Der Zahlenteufel. Ein Hörspiel in neun Nächten für alle, die Angst vor der Mathematik haben" (in German). Archived from the original on 26 April 2012 . Retrieved 16 December 2011. Using gematria, scholars have variously decoded 666 to learn the biblical beast’s name. A leading theory deciphers 666 as Nron Qsr or Nro Qsr, taken as the Greek and Latin, respectively, for Nero Caesar. The beastly 666, then, may refer to Nero’s persecution of early Christians, though this theory has historical problems. Another similarly problematic theory identifies 666 as Muhammed, the founding Islamic prophet viewed as a false prophet in medieval Christianity.

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a b Deborah Loewenberg Ball and Hyman Bass (January 2000). "The Number Devil book review" (PDF). Notices of the AMS. 47 (1): 51–56 . Retrieved 3 September 2011. For Chinese gamers, 666 has an altogether different meaning. Liù, the pinyin for the Chinese word for six, is a homophone for the word for skilled. 6 or a string of 6’s can be used by Chinese gamers to show respect for an instance of highly skilled gameplay. Eisenbichler, Ernst. "Der "Fliegende Robert" der Literaten". Bayerischer Rundfunk (in German) . Retrieved 16 December 2011. Paulos, John Allen (18 November 1999). "The Way to Numerical Heaven". The New York Review of Books. 46 (18) . Retrieved 3 September 2011. Thuy-Anh Mai, Angie. "Personal Reflections on The Number Devil". Math Horizons. Mathematical Association of America . Retrieved 16 December 2011.

The Number Devil: A Mathematical Adventure - Publishers Weekly The Number Devil: A Mathematical Adventure - Publishers Weekly

is the sum of the first thirty-six natural numbers, which makes it a triangular number: [4] ∑ i = 1 36 i = 1 + 2 + 3 + ⋯ + 34 + 35 + 36 = 666 {\displaystyle \sum _{i=1} Matsumoto, Valerie J. "Faculty Show Depth, Breadth of the Written Word". UCLA Today. University of California Press. Archived from the original on 4 April 2012 . Retrieved 23 October 2011. The idea of the “number of a man” or “beast” may refer to the practice of gematria in Jewish numerology, where every letter of the Hebrew alphabet corresponds to a number (e.g., aleph=1, bet=2, etc.), and words and names correspond to the sums of these numbers. On the ninth night, Robert dreams he is in bed, suffering from the flu, when the Number Devil appears next to him. The Number Devil teaches Robert about natural numbers, which the Number Devil calls garden-variety numbers, the unusual characteristics of infinite, and infinite series. Robert finds himself at the North Pole, where the Number Devil introduces irrational numbers ( unreasonable numbers), as well as aspects of Euclidean geometry, such as vertices ( dots) and edges ( lines). By the eleventh night, Robert has shown considerable increased interest in mathematics, but questions its validity, to which the Number Devil introduces the concept of mathematical proofs, ending with the Number Devil showing Robert a complicated proof of basic arithmetic. On the twelfth night, Robert and the Number Devil receive an invitation (which names the Number Devil as Teplotaxl) to Number Heaven, as Robert's time with the Number Devil has finished. At Number Heaven, Robert learns of imaginary numbers, which Teplotaxl describes as imaginative numbers, as well as the Klein bottle. Walking through Number Heaven, Teplotaxl introduces Robert to various famous mathematicians, such as Fibonacci, whom Teplotaxl calls Bonacci, and George Cantor, or Professor Singer. The book ends with Robert in class using his newfound mathematical knowledge.Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six. Gardner, Michael (8 November 1998). "It All Adds Up". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 3 September 2011. Enzensberger, Hans Magnus (1998). The Number Devil: A Mathematical Adventure. Translated by Michael Henry Heim. New York: Henry Holt & Company. ISBN 0-8050-5770-6. The Number Devil - PC". IGN. Archived from the original on November 25, 2004 . Retrieved 5 September 2011.

The Number Devil: A Mathematical Adventure - Goodreads

This is not meant to be a formal definition of 666 like most terms we define on Dictionary.com, but is Over the course of twelve dreams, the Number Devil teaches Robert mathematical principles. On the first night, the Number Devil appears to Robert in an oversized world and introduces the number one. The next night, the Number Devil emerges in a forest of trees shaped like "ones" and explains the necessity of the number zero, negative numbers, and introduces hopping, a fictional term to describe exponentiation. On the third night, the Number Devil brings Robert to a cave and reveals how prima-donna numbers ( prime numbers) can only be divided by themselves and one without a remainder. Later, on the fourth night, the Number Devil teaches Robert about rutabagas, another fictional term to depict square roots, at a beach. a b Karacs, Imre (29 July 2000). "From long division to multiplication". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-06-18 . Retrieved 26 October 2011. The Number Devil: A Mathematical Adventure ( German: Der Zahlenteufel. Ein Kopfkissenbuch für alle, die Angst vor der Mathematik haben) is a book for children and young adults that explores mathematics. It was originally written in 1997 in German by Hans Magnus Enzensberger and illustrated by Rotraut Susanne Berner. The book follows a young boy named Robert, who is taught mathematics by a sly "number devil" called Teplotaxl over the course of twelve dreams. In Christianity, 666 is referred to in (most manuscripts of) chapter 13 of the Book of Revelation of the New Testament as the " number of the beast." [1] [2] [3] In mathematics [ edit ]The association of 666 with evil originates from a passage in the Book of Revelations in the New Testament of the Bible. As it reads in the King James Version (13:18): The number 666 evokes strong feelings in many people. Some Christians, for instance, might go out of their way to avoid the number. Others may use the number to evoke an air of darkness or find amusement in coincidental appearances of the number in popular culture or everyday occurrences.