A mathematical coincidence can be said to occur when two expressions show a near-equality that lacks direct theoretical explanation. For example, there is a near-equality around the round number 1000 between powers of two and powers of ten: . Some of these coincidences are used in engineering when one expression is taken as an approximation of the other.
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Famous quotes containing the words mathematical and/or coincidence:
“An accurate charting of the American woman’s progress through history might look more like a corkscrew tilted slightly to one side, its loops inching closer to the line of freedom with the passage of time—but like a mathematical curve approaching infinity, never touching its goal. . . . Each time, the spiral turns her back just short of the finish line.”
—Susan Faludi (20th century)
“Only what is thought, said, or done at a certain rare coincidence is good.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)