拉普拉斯小妖 2020-02-12 14:23:25

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The recent spate of popular books on the Riemann hypothesis, which
concerns the distribution of prime numbers and is the greatest unsolved
math problem since Andrew Wiles solved Fermat's famous last theorem 10
years ago, augurs well for this directory from British author Wells (The
Penguin Dictionary of Curious and Interesting Numbers). Arranged
alphabetically, the text covers such topics as gaps between primes,
Mersenne primes (primes of the form 2 to the nth power minus 1),
palindromic primes, record primes (the largest "not of a special and
easily tested form" as of 2003 has 10,000 digits), repunits (primes that
consist exclusively of the digit 1), "sexy" primes (primes that differ
by six) and twin primes. For James Bond fans, there's even mention of
"007" primes. Mathematicians who contributed to prime number theory,
including Leonhard Euler, G.H. Hardy and A.M. Legendre, receive separate
entries. While some of the math is fairly sophisticated, lay readers
will find plenty that's readily comprehensible. A bibliography and list
of Web sites point the way for those wishing to explore primes in
greater depth.