🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <Pine.SOL.3.91-941213.960123212017.2141F-100000@altair.dur.ac.uk>, Duncan A Knowles <D.A.Knowles@durham.ac.uk> writes:

> > In article <4dc4c6$15k@falcon.ccs.uwo.ca>, michaelg@julian.uwo.ca (Michael Glenn) says:
> > >
> > >What is the largest digit with a name? 
> > >
> > >eg: million, billion, quadrillion, etc...
> > 
> I read somewhere about a number called "Graham's number" that is so big 
> it would take many lifetimes to write it down in standard notation. It 
> apparently is the biggest number with a use (in combinatorics I believe). 
> It was defined something like this;
> 
> 	3@3 = 3^3
> 	3@@3 = 3@3@3
> 	3@@@3 = 3@@3@@3@@3
> 	.....	.......
> 	3@@@.....@@@3 = "Graham's number"
> 
> In the last stage, I can't remember how many "@"s there were, but for no 
> reason at all, 28 sounds familiar! Can anyone give a better definition?

I remember reading something akin to this.  It was the largest number ever
to be used in a proof.  It was called Skewes' Number, and the notation that
they used was 3|3|3 ...  The book is "The Lore of Large Numbers", and I
think it was by Yaglom and Yaglom, but I'm probably mistaken.  Oh, and it 
was near the end.

--
Calvin Li   ccli@ccnga.uwaterloo.ca
Disclaimer: Nothing I have said is necessarily said by me.
"Vox, et Praeterea Nihil" - A Voice, and nothing more...