[math-fun] Ben Franklin, mathematics & vegetarianism
I recently heard someone on the radio say that Ben Franklin said he never was able to understand math until he became a vegetarian. I have not been able to find any reference to this statement on the web. Franklin's struggles with math and his vegetarianism are well-known, but I haven't found anything linking the two together. Does anyone else on this list have any info? Thanks.
Two items dealing with both magic squares and combinatorial designs. Two 4x4 squares containing every double from 1-16. http://demonstrations.wolfram.com/MagicSquaresAndDesigns/ Four 8x8 squares containing every double from 1-64. http://demonstrations.wolfram.com/The26481Design/ Similar constructions have been proven impossible for the 6x6, 10x10, 14x14, 22x22. Existence of designs for 12x12,18x18, 20x20 are all unsolved problems, in square form or not. The designs behind a possible set of 16x16 squares exist, but I haven't mapped them to a magic square form.
To connect two distinct discussion threads, Ben Franklin worked on magic squares in his "youth": http://www.mathpages.com/home/kmath155.htm At 08:59 AM 9/18/2008, Ed Pegg Jr wrote:
Two items dealing with both magic squares and combinatorial designs.
Two 4x4 squares containing every double from 1-16. http://demonstrations.wolfram.com/MagicSquaresAndDesigns/
Four 8x8 squares containing every double from 1-64. http://demonstrations.wolfram.com/The26481Design/
Similar constructions have been proven impossible for the 6x6, 10x10, 14x14, 22x22.
Existence of designs for 12x12,18x18, 20x20 are all unsolved problems, in square form or not.
The designs behind a possible set of 16x16 squares exist, but I haven't mapped them to a magic square form.
In the French version of Wikipedia http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin, we can read that Franklin became vegetarian in 1722. Meaning that he was 16 years old. I think that a lot of mathematicians found an interest in mathematics around this age. Very difficult to be interested before 10, and very rare to become interested after 20 if it was not the case before, I think. Christian. -----Message d'origine----- De : math-fun-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:math-fun-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] De la part de Henry Baker Envoyé : jeudi 18 septembre 2008 15:56 À : math-fun Objet : [math-fun] Ben Franklin, mathematics & vegetarianism I recently heard someone on the radio say that Ben Franklin said he never was able to understand math until he became a vegetarian. I have not been able to find any reference to this statement on the web. Franklin's struggles with math and his vegetarianism are well-known, but I haven't found anything linking the two together. Does anyone else on this list have any info? Thanks. _______________________________________________ math-fun mailing list math-fun@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/math-fun
Henry, As another null data point, I recently read the mathematical biography _Benjamin Franklin's Numbers: An Unsung Mathematical Odyssey_ by Paul Pasles and I don't remember any mention of vegetarianism. The book had enough well-researched tidbits in it that I would expect a definite math/vegetarianism connection to have been mentioned. You could contact the author for more info. George http://www.georgehart.com P.S. Check out my latest mathematical sculpture barn raising: http://www.georgehart.com/Albion/construction.html Henry Baker wrote:
I recently heard someone on the radio say that Ben Franklin said he never was able to understand math until he became a vegetarian. I have not been able to find any reference to this statement on the web. Franklin's struggles with math and his vegetarianism are well-known, but I haven't found anything linking the two together.
Does anyone else on this list have any info?
Thanks.
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Very cool pix! Thanks! At 06:11 PM 9/18/2008, George W. Hart wrote:
P.S. Check out my latest mathematical sculpture barn raising: http://www.georgehart.com/Albion/construction.html
participants (4)
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Christian Boyer -
Ed Pegg Jr -
George W. Hart -
Henry Baker