ok, someone has to ask...factor and divisor are the same thing; why are you implying otherwise? I know there is potential confusion with prime factor and factorization, but they're different issues. Nick On 2/14/2017 12:49 AM, Bill Gosper wrote:

Almost(?) as bad: The prestigious Nueva School is using "factor" to mean "divisor" (to avoid a three syllable word?) so that "1 is a factor of 6". I actually saw a TV quiz show screw a contestant out of $1M by switching whether 1 could be a factor. --rwg Date: 2017-02-13 18:38 From: Eugene Salamin via math-fun <math-fun@mailman.xmission.com> To: math-fun <math-fun@mailman.xmission.com> Reply-To: Eugene Salamin <gene_salamin@yahoo.com>, math-fun < math-fun@mailman.xmission.com>

It is unfortunate for someone knowledgeable in mathematics to lower himself to the level of the uninformed, instead of making an attempt to raise them up to a higher level. This reminds me of something I was told by a friend who volunteers in the Santa Cruz CA Public School. Apparently it's school doctrine that 1 is a prime number. The teacher told the class that 1 is prime, but added the qualification that mathematicians consider 1 to not be prime. Anyhow, James, it's your First Amendment right to say that π varies with the situation, and it's my First Amendment right to disagree with you.

-- Gene _______________________________________________ math-fun mailing list math-fun@mailman.xmission.com https://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/math-fun