42 (number)
42 (forty-two) is the natural number following 41 and preceding 43.
Mathematics
42 is a pronic number,<ref name="Pronic">Template:Cite OEIS</ref> an abundant number<ref>Template:Cite OEIS</ref> as well as a highly abundant number,<ref>Template:Cite OEIS</ref> a practical number,<ref>Template:Cite OEIS</ref> and a Catalan number.<ref>Template:Cite OEIS</ref>
The 42-sided tetracontadigon is the largest such regular polygon that can only tile a vertex alongside other regular polygons, without tiling the plane.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite web 3.7.42 as a unit facet in an irregular tiling.</ref>
42 is the magic constant of the smallest non-trivial magic cube, a <math>3 \times 3 \times 3</math> cube with entries of 1 through 27, where every row, column, corridor, and diagonal passing through the center sums to forty-two.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite OEIS</ref>
42 can be expressed as the sum of three cubes: (80,435,758,145,817,515)3 + (12,602,123,297,335,631)3 + (-80,538,738,812,075,974)3 .<ref name="booker2019">Template:Cite journal</ref>
Wisdom literature, religion, and philosophy
- Abrahamic religions
- In Judaism, by some traditions the Torah scroll is written with no fewer than 42 lines per column, based on the journeys of Israel.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In the present day, 42 lines is the most common standard,<ref>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> but various traditions remain in use (see Sefer Torah).
- 42 is the number with which God creates the Universe in Kabbalistic tradition. In Kabbalah, the most significant name is that of the En Sof (also known as "Ein Sof", "Infinite" or "Endless"), who is above the Sefirot (sometimes spelled "Sephirot").<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Forty-Two-Lettered Name contains four combined names which are spelled in Hebrew letters (spelled in letters = 42 letters), which is the name of Azilut (or "Atziluth" "Emanation"). While there are obvious links between the Forty-Two Lettered Name of the Babylonian Talmud and the Kabbalah's Forty-Two Lettered Name, they are probably not identical because of the Kabbalah's emphasis on numbers. The Kabbalah also contains a Forty-Five Lettered Name and a Seventy-Two Lettered Name. 42 letters make the Ana beKo'ach prayer.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Popular culture
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The number 42 is, in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, the "Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything", calculated by an enormous supercomputer named Deep Thought over a period of 7.5 million years. Unfortunately, no one knows what the question is. Thus, to calculate the Ultimate Question, a special computer the size of a small planet was built from organic components and named "Earth". The Ultimate Question "What do you get when you multiply six by nine"<ref>Template:Cite web See this website for possible explanations of this seeming error.</ref> is found by Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect in the second book of the series, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe. This appeared first in the radio play and later in the novelization of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
The fourth book in the series, Template:H2G2, contains 42 chapters. According to Template:H2G2, 42 is the street address of Stavromula Beta.
In 1994, Adams created the 42 Puzzle, a game based on the number 42. Adams says he picked the number simply as a joke, with no deeper meaning.
Google also has a calculator easter egg when one searches "the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything." Once typed (all in lowercase), the calculator answers with the number 42.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Jackie Robinson
- The jersey number of Jackie Robinson, which is the only number retired by all Major League Baseball teams. Although the number was retired in 1997, Mariano Rivera of the New York Yankees, the last professional baseball player to wear number 42, continued to wear it until he retired at the end of the 2013 season. As of the 2014 season, no player ever again wore the number 42 in Major League Baseball except on Jackie Robinson Day (April 15), when all uniformed personnel (players, managers, coaches, and umpires) wear the number.
Other
In Japanese culture, the number 42 is considered unlucky because the numerals when pronounced separately—shi ni (four two)—sound like the word "dying",<ref>Niiya, Brian. Japanese American history: an A-to-Z reference from 1868 to the present. Facts on File, Inc., 1993, p. 352</ref> like the Latin word "mori".
Notes
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External links
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