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Re: prime numbers and African artifact
Timothy D. Shoppa (shoppa@almach.caltech.edu)
5 Jul 1995 17:39 PST
In article <DB8qqE.3uI@undergrad.math.uwaterloo.ca>, shallit@graceland.uwaterloo.ca (Jeffrey Shallit) writes...
>On page 21 of Joel Shurkin's 1984 book, _Engines of the Mind:
>A History of the Computer_ (W. W. Norton & Co.), he says:
>
> "A piece of bone found in Africa and dated at around 8,500 B.C.
>has engraved markings containing what appear to be representations of
>the numbers 11, 13, 17, and 19, all of which are prime numbers ..."
>
What? They left out 9, 15, and 21, some of the most useful prime numbers
of all! :^)
Tim. (shoppa@altair.krl.caltech.edu)
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