Do the numbers 42 and 61 mean anything to you?
Image from Bing Free Images as seen on http://jackmalcolm.com/blog/2011/09/h...
I must confess these are numbers that meant nothing to me until my husband recounted how he could communicate a single number to a fellow teacher and this other teacher will know exactly what my husband is referring to. So if he says: “42.” the other teacher will fire back: “Jackie Robinson’s uniform number.” (The player who broke through the color barrier to become the first African American to play professional baseball.)
Evidently I’m in the minority not knowing the meaning behind these numbers, because they both warranted enough interest to have movies made about them. “61*” follows the race between Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris as both were hitting so well in 1961 that either one of them could have broken Babe Ruth’s record of 60 hits in a single season. Sounds like enough emotion and competition to be fodder for any compelling story—except it really happened. Roger Maris was the one to go down in history with that number, hitting 61 home runs that year.
What is it about baseball that brings new meaning to statistics? It’s probably one of the happier ways to use numbers, something I never would have dreamed possible while sitting in any kind of math class.
Numbers can be fascinating when associated with intriguing coincidences. Did you notice the year, ’61, was the year the home run record was broken with the same number of home runs? Still, there aren’t many numbers that mean very much to me. Perhaps 3 for the trinity, and for the number of days before Jesus rose from the dead. Sixty-five is another number with meaning for me. I chose to use that number in my email address, since it’s the number of CCG repeats I inherited that makes me a carrier for Fragile X Syndrome. Sixty-five is a relatively low number for a carrier, but it’s nonetheless unstable because that repeat number jumped to something uncountable in my son. So it’s an important number, a number that represents a change in my life, but unlike fun baseball statistics, it’s not a happy number.
Numbers are far more fascinating to people like my husband, whose idea of a refreshing mental exercise is to work on a Physics problem that demands several sheets of paper. Can you imagine? I do understand the idea of numbers being reliable and concrete. There is something to be said for absolutes, and math is a prime example for that. Your math problems are absolutely right . . . or wrong . . . and there’s comfort in knowing you can be absolutely right!
Deep down, if I had a choice, perhaps I might prefer being a mathematician rather than a writer. Wait a minute . . . let me think about that. The security of numbers versus the exploration of endless story worlds. Hmmm . . . On second thought . . .
On a completely different note (or should I say number) I also wanted to mention that next week (May 17th through May 19th) I’ll be involved in another very fun Scavenger Hunt! You may recall that I participated in one last year with Bees In The Butterfly Garden, and it was so successful I’m happy to take part in one with All In Good Time. So look for details starting Friday, May 17th, on how you can enter to win some great prizes, including 31 wonderful new books from various Christian writers and an iPad Mini! I’ll post another reminder next week, but mark your calendars so you won’t miss it!
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What a delightfully fun blog post. I am NOT a "number" person, my husband is. He has memorized his Air Force number (which ceased in significance 45 years ago), all old phone number he has ever had, my SS number (which I don't care about memorizing), all our credit card numerbs, etc. etc. I do well to remember our zip code and address. I do remember that my only daughter was born on my 26th birthday on the 26th day of August. Fun to read that your husband enjoys blank pages to create a "refreshing" physics exercise on. Wow. That would be impossible for me if they held a gun to my face requiring me to create a physics problem. I liked your post despite the fact it was filled with numbers. Thanks!
Oh, my goodness, your husband must have a memory made for numbers! I do remember my very first phone number, which of course hasn't meant anything for decades, but other than that I don't remember many numbers if I don't absolutely have to. I'm with you on that score! But I like numbers that mean something, like the ones easy to remember (your daughter arriving on your 26th birthday on the 26th of August is a great example!). How easy life would be if all of our important numbers had associations like that!
When I read the title of the post, my first thought was specifically for the number 42.That's the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything.
I didn't connect 61 with baseball until you made the connection. Same with the 42.
Fascinating! I'll have to ask my physics-teacher hubby about the other meanings associated with the number 42. Otherwise, I'm glad I'm not the only one who didn't jump right to the sports connections! :-)
The 42 as the answer to the ultimate question of life, universe, and everything comes from the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. And being a fantasy/sci-fi junkie (and having recently watched an episode of Stargate Atlantis with it mentioned), that's the route my brain took.
Sounds like it would be a fun investigation! Thanks for sharing, Dawn. :-)
