ADAM SPENCER'S BOOK OF NUMBERS, Adam Spencer

Adam Spencer
Adam Spencer's Book of Numbers

A bizarre and hilarious journey from 1 to 100 — bound to appeal not only to math nerds but the rest of us as well.

The average candy bar contains 8 insect legs. Elephants are pregnant for 21 months. Leeches have 32 brains. Someone in Texas once threw an egg 98 meters without breaking. (That's over 321 feet!) What's so special about the number 65? The constant of a 5 x 5 "magic square," a square which contains the numbers 1 to 25, where all the rows and columns and each diagonal add up to 65.

Welcome to the strange and wonderful world of Adam Spencer's Book of Numbers, a rollicking ride from 1 to 100. Spencer, in an effort to "take the numb out of numbers," tackles such questions as: What makes 6 such a perfect number? (Answer: It's equal to the sum of its factors.) How are potatoes better than people? (They have 48 chromosomes, two more than humans.) What, and when, was the 26th letter invented? ("J," in the 14th century.) How big is a duodecillion? (1 followed by 39 zeroes.) And how many former guest stars on The Love Boat are now dead? (50!)

But Spencer offers more than just trivia. He introduces us to Ulam numbers, Kaprekar numbers, abundant and weird numbers and primorials, discusses the discoveries of great mathematicians, solves geometrical puzzles, shows how measurements have changed throughout history, and ultimately proves that there is more to the average number than you might think.

How many people do you need in a room before there'll be a birthday in common? Buy the book and find out!

Adam Spencer has a PhD in mathematics. He is a stand-up comedian and DJ in Australia.