Herb Reich - Numberpedia: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know (and a Few Things You Didnt) About Numbers

O ur lives are governed by numbers. Not the evanescent assumptions of the numerologist, but the widely applied codified numerical systems underlying our very existence.

Aside from among our family and friends, we are known not by name but identified by our social security number. We are located by the numbers in our home address. We are contacted via our telephone number. At birth, our readiness for joining the world at large is condensed into our Apgar score. In school we are graded one to one hundred and tested for IQ. Our entry to college is in part determined by our SATs, and once enrolled, our progress is monitored by our GPAs. We travel via flight numbers. We relax and/or seek our fortune by trying to pick winning Lotto numbers or attempting to control the numbers on a pair of dice or on a roulette wheel; sometimes we try to outthink the house in playing blackjack, aka twenty-one.

Our medical status report is replete with numerical estimates of our BP; our CBC, WBC, RBC, and PLT; our LYM, HDL, and LDL; for men, a PSA, and for women, an FSH or TSH. When we decide to redecorate our homes, we may refer to colors by name, but we order paint by number. In a neighborhood pub, those assembled will likely be discussing stats relating to the sport of choice. In an accident we exchange license numbers and insurance numbers. And so it is in just about every realm of human experience.

Society simply could not function in the absence of welldefined, mutually accepted number systems.

Numbers serve two functions: They may denote measurements (i.e., the weight of a box of cookies or the capacity of a gas tank) or designations (i.e., the address of a building or the number on a football players jersey). Thus, they both quantify and identify. Some numbers take on meaning beyond their capacity to count or to name; for example, 7 is seen as lucky, 13 as unlucky, 666 as unholy.

Acknowledging that numbers describe us and rule us, this book examines the various meanings of numbers, and, more specifically, the associations each number conveys to us. Thus, 7 may refer to the number of dwarfs who accompany Snow White, the international calling code for Russia, the wonders of the ancient world, or even a winning roll of the dice. Or 40 could bring to mind the days of Lent, the atomic number of zirconium, the value of Roman XL, or even Mickey Mantles record number of home runs in World Series games.

We limit our scope to the numbers 0 to 100. The range could obviously be extended upward, but the restraints of space demand prudence in setting the bounds of our coverage. Within our chosen parameters, we make no attempt to be exhaustive, but rather selective in choosing what seem to be the most interesting, most instructive, at times best known, at times most obscure, items.

This book is intended to serve as a Baedeker of meaningful numbers. Its 7,500 entries were extensively researched to include items from history, religion, mythology, current events, government, law, several sports, music, theater, movies, childrens games, geography, literature, medicine, art, pop culture, and just about every field of endeavor one can mention. It should prove valuable in generating some interesting conversation, in provoking some arguments, and maybe even in settling a few. And it will no doubt be a boon to trivia enthusiasts by providing an unending supply of challenging minutiae, some trivial, some not so.

Items are accurate (at least we strove for such) as of the date the manuscript went into production, but some (such as sports records or the states allotment of congressional seats) will possibly be outdated by the time the book comes off press. Given the mass of data, the inclusion of some errors is virtually inescapable, but we trust they are few. If you, the reader, find any, please convey them to the author through the publisher so corrections can be made in later printings.

Now, let us conclude this overview as all news stories once did: 30, 30, 30.