Allan wrote: << More "constructively", let a(0)=3, and then define a(n+1) as the smallest number whose name written out in English has a(n) letters. I suspect it's easy to prove your parenthesized comment "strictly monotonically increasing". ...
Only now do I comprehend the idea of this sequence -- Thanks! Question: Is it clear that the sequence is indefinitely extensible? I.e., couldn't there be a length for which (given a fixed universal naming system) there exists no English number name? (Or if there are some obvious small sizes missing, is it clear that each sufficiently large length has even one exemplar? --Dan _____________________________________________________________________ "It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that certain je ne sais quoi." --Peter Schickele