The Man Who Counted: A Collection of Mathematical Adventures

180 Pages·2015·3.94 MB·English

by  Malba Tahan

The man
who counted
a collection of mathematical adventurer
Malba Tahan
Illustrated by Patricia Reid Baqueroe &
Translated by Leslie Clark and Alastair Reid
W. W. Norton & Company New York London
To the memory of seven great geometrists,
Christian or agnostic:
Descartes, Pascal, Newton
Leibniz, Euler, Lagrange, Comte
Allah take pity on these infidels!
and to the memory of the unforgettable mathematician, astronomer,
and Muslim philosopher
Abu Jafar Muhammad ibn-Musa al-Khwarizmi
Allah preserve him in his glory!
and also to all who study, teach, or admire the prodigious science of
scale, form, numbers, measures, functions, movement, and the laws
of nature.
I, pilgrim, descended from the Prophet
Ali Iezid Izz-Edim ibn-Salim Hanak
Malba Tahan
believer in Allah
and in Muhammad, his sacred Prophet
dedicate these pages of legend and fantasy.
—Baghdad, nineteenth day of the moon of Ramadan, 1321
Contents
CHAPTER 1 A meeting of the minds
CHAPTER 2 Someone to count on
CHAPTER 3 Beasts of burden
CHAPTER 4 Food for thought
CHAPTER 5 In so many words
CHAPTER 6 Trial by numbers
CHAPTER 7 Going to market
CHAPTER 8 Seventh heaven
CHAPTER 9 In the stars
CHAPTER 10 Bird in the hand
CHAPTER 11 For good measure
CHAPTER 12 Circular reasoning
CHAPTER 13 Friendship knows no bounds
CHAPTER 14 An eternal truth
CHAPTER 15 Squared away
CHAPTER 16 The game plan
CHAPTER 17 Of apples and ants
CHAPTER 18 A perilous pearl
CHAPTER 19 Sailor’s choice
CHAPTER 20 The power of ten
CHAPTER 21 The writing on the wall
CHAPTER 22 Half and half
CHAPTER 23 All is relative
CHAPTER 24 Eureka!
CHAPTER 25 The questions commence
CHAPTER 26 One for the book
CHAPTER 27 History in the making
CHAPTER 28 False hopes
CHAPTER 29 Single-handed success
CHAPTER 30 Three of a kind
CHAPTER 31 In black and white
CHAPTER 32 A balancing act
CHAPTER 33 Eye to eye
CHAPTER 34 Of life and love
The man who counted

Of the amusing circumstances of my encounter with a strange
traveler on the road from Samarra to Baghdad.

I
n the name of Allah, the All-Merciful!
My name is Hanak Tade Maia. Once I was returning, at my camel’s slow
pace, along the road to Baghdad after an excursion to the famous city of
Samarra, on the banks of the Tigris, when I saw a modestly dressed traveler who
was seated on a rock, apparently resting from the fatigue of the journey.
I was about to offer the perfunctory salaam of travelers when, to my great
surprise, he rose and said ceremoniously, “One million, four hundred and
twenty-three thousand, seven hundred and forty-five.” He quickly sat down and
lapsed into silence, his head resting in his hands, as if he were absorbed in
profound meditation. I stopped at some distance and stood watching him, as if he
were a historic monument to the legendary past.
A few moments later, the man again rose to his feet and, in a clear, deliberate
voice, called out another, equally fabulous number, “Two million, three hundred
and twenty-one thousand, eight hundred and sixty-six.”
Several times more the strange traveler rose and uttered a number in the
millions, before sinking down again on the rough stone by the roadside. Unable
to restrain my curiosity, I approached the stranger and, after greeting him in the
name of Allah, asked him the meaning of these fantastic sums.
“Stranger,” replied the Man Who Counted, “I do not disapprove of this
curiosity that disturbs the peace of my thoughts and calculations. And now that
you have spoken to me with such courtesy and graciousness, I am going to
accede to your wishes. But first I must tell you the story of my life.”
And he told me the following, which, for your entertainment, I transcribe
And he told me the following, which, for your entertainment, I transcribe
exactly as I heard it.