[HM] Les nombres remarquables

Samuel S. Kutler (s-kutler@sjca.edu)
Mon, 18 Jan 1999 13:20:33 -0500 (EST)

Friends:

Let me quote from page 15, the bibliographic page, of

THE PENGUIN DICTIONARY OLF CURIOUS AND INTERESTING NUMBERS

by David Wells:

Not readily available, and at a considerably higher level than this
book, is another dictionary, Les Nombres remarquable, by
Francois Le Lionnais, Hermann, Paris, 1983.

I now have it on inter-library loan from Johns Hopkins.

The first entry is on zero; The second is .00126448 . . ., which is said to be

22/7 - pi = integral from 0 to 1 with respect to x of

x^4[(1-x)^4]/1 + x^2,

to which the author remarks

Plus que d'un nombre remarquable,
il s'agit la d'une expression remarquable par sa syme'trie.

I have never seen that expression before, and I have yet tp tru to think of it.

Do any of you know it?

How can I obtain a copy of this wild book--it begins with a piece of a Bach
prelude--for our library--or my own library?

Best wishes,

Sam Kutler