Here is how a per­fect­ly ordi­na­ry num­ber cap­tu­red the inte­rest of sci-fi enthu­si­asts, geeks and mathematicians

Ever­yo­ne loves unsol­ved mys­te­ries. Examp­les include Ame­lia Earhart’s dis­ap­pearance over the Paci­fic in 1937 and the dar­ing escape of inma­tes Frank Mor­ris and John and Cla­rence Anglin from Alca­traz Island in Cali­for­nia in 1962. Moreo­ver our inte­rest holds even if the mys­tery is based on a joke. Take aut­hor Dou­glas Adams’s popu­lar 1979 sci­ence-fic­tion novel The Hitchhiker’s Gui­de to the Gala­xy, the first in a series of five. Toward the end of the book, the super­com­pu­ter Deep Thought reve­als that the ans­wer to the “Gre­at Ques­ti­on” of “Life, the Uni­ver­se and Ever­y­thing” is “for­ty-two.”

https://​www​.sci​en​ti​fi​ca​me​ri​can​.com/​a​r​t​i​c​l​e​/​f​o​r​-​m​a​t​h​-​f​a​n​s​-​a​-​h​i​t​c​h​h​i​k​e​r​s​-​g​u​i​d​e​-​t​o​-​t​h​e​-​n​u​m​b​e​r​-42