Time Quote by Matt Parker

““There is one packing puzzle which, I believe, holds the record for the longest time between the answer being discovered and proof being found that this answer is definitely the correct answer. A solution was found before humans even existed, but it wasn't proved until 2001. The puzzle is: what is the best shape to pack in 2D? By 'best', we mean that this is a shape that fits together leaving no gaps and covers the maximum area possible for the length of its edges. The winner is the hexagon, as was discovered by bees long before humans even conceived of mathematics. Known as the honeycomb conjecture, it was not until millions of years later that the American mathematician Thomas Hales proved that, even if you resort to crazy shapes with strange curved sides, you'll never flat-pack better than you can with a hexagon.””

Matt Parker

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 4.3 out of 5 (10 ratings)

Time

More by Matt Parker

“Along with working on the Basel problem, Euler realized that adding an infinite sequence of reciprocal powers for all whole numbers will give you the same answer as multiplying together an infinite sequence of fractions which use only the prime numbers. So the zeta function can be written as two different equations, one of which relies only on the prime…

Matt Parker

“I was believing your kind were all dead!' Warvitch bellowed at the minotaur, over the sithkall's choking death growls. 'It will be a great…

Matt Parker

Image

“Despite their ubiquity on the number line, transcendentals are surprisingly hard to pin down. It took until 1873 to prove that e was transcendental, making it the first number we knew for definite was. The poster-child of maths, pi, didn't join the transcendental fold until 1882. Even today, we know that at least one of e + pi and e…

Matt Parker

“The proof in 1882 that pi is a transcendental number put a 2,000 year old problem to rest: for any given circle, can you draw a square of the same surface area using a compass and a straight edge? Since 1882, we know that no, you can't. To draw a square the area of a circle you need to be…

Matt Parker

“The compact disc may now be outdated technology, but a lot of music albums are still released on CD. A standard 700-megabyte CD is actually 703.125 megabytes (a rare case of the music industry giving something extra away for free), which is a total of 5,898,240,000 1s and 0s. By my calculations, the number of possible different CDs in base-10…

Matt Parker

“The zeta function is the sum of an infinite sequence of inverse powers.”

Matt Parker

Image

“At a very rough estimate, the domino computer we built took six hours to set up and run, which means it could do four calculations per day, if you had a team of domino-computer builders working around the clock. This is a terrible rate of one calculation every 21,600 seconds, equating to a processor speed of 46.3 microhertz. Which makes…

Matt Parker

“In our current number system, if you multiply 111,111,111 by itself, you get the rather pleasing 12,345,678,987,654,321 (all the digits count up from 1…

Matt Parker

Image

“Much as it took Lucas to revolutionize the search for Mersennes primes and Lord Kelvin to introduce new ways to look for space-filling-shapes, I think we're still waiting for the key mathematical techniques needed to fully understand knots. I suspect a new generation of mathematicians will have to go to university and become knot theorists on order to give us…

Matt Parker

“For DNA to reproduce, it needs to unzip itself down the middle, and the topology of the dna chain dictates which knots are formed…

Matt Parker

Image

“To this day, the Clay Mathematics Institute's bounty of $1 million for anyone who can prove that all the non-trivial zeroes of the zeta…

Matt Parker

Image

“The Riemann Hypothesis states that all the non-trivial zeroes of the zeta function are on this line. If we can prove the Riemann Hypothesis is true, then we'll also have proved the method for counting the prime numbers. In some weird twisted act of mathematical logic, at a fundamental level the alignment of these zeroes stems from the same logic…

Matt Parker

Explore all 39 Matt Parker quotes

More Time quotes

'Mad TV' is one of my most favorite shows of all time and is a huge part of my obsession with sketch comedy.

Shane Dawson

Image

These joys were so trifling as to be as imperceptible as grains of gold among the sand, and in moments of depression she saw…

Leo Tolstoy

Image

“William didn't look like he'd be difficult about anything - he was thin and sandy-haired and already wore eyeglasses like his father. Most of…

Patricia C. Wrede

Image

Intel has a very complete process that I go through any time I want to sell that ensures I have no insider information.

Brian Krzanich

Image

The man who can master his time can master nearly anything.

Winston Churchill

Image

I feel like the future is unwritten. So many of the things that we write now haven't been about educating people on the environment,…

John Flansburgh

Image

You'll seldom experience regret for anything that you've done. It is what you haven't done that will torment you. The message, therefore, is clear.…

Anonymous

Image

When you do things they're absolutely right at that time for you and it can always teach you something about yourself. You can take…

Kym Marsh

Image

Resist discouragement by speaking His Word over your future. Keep standing. Keep hoping; keep believing because He is working behind the scenes. He's going…

Joel Osteen