Mersenne Numbers in Nature and Elsewhere
In computer science, unsigned p-bit integers can be used to express numbers up to Mp. Signed p+1-bit integers can express values between -Mp and Mp.
In the mathematical problem Tower of Hanoi, solving a puzzle with a p-disc tower requires Mp steps, assuming no mistakes are made.
The asteroid with minor planet number 8191 is named 8191 Mersenne after Marin Mersenne, because 8191 is a Mersenne prime (3 Juno, 7 Iris, 31 Euphrosyne and 127 Johanna having been discovered and named during the nineteenth century).
Read more about this topic: Mersenne Prime
Famous quotes containing the words numbers and/or nature:
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In Lethe to be drowned,
Then only numbers sweet
With endless life are crowned.”
—Robert Herrick (1591–1674)
“Women stand related to beautiful nature around us, and the enamoured youth mixes their form with moon and stars, with woods and waters, and the pomp of summer. They heal us of awkwardness by their words and looks. We observe their intellectual influence on the most serious student. They refine and clear his mind: teach him to put a pleasing method into what is dry and difficult.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)