16 - 22 October 2005

This week's word: googol

Definition:

noun

The figure 1 followed by 100 zeros (10¹⁰⁰), whence goo·gol·plex (-pl

x′) the figure 1 followed by a googol of zeros (10^10¹⁰⁰); coined by Dr. Edward Kasner (1878 - 1955), American mathematician.

Etymology:

To make their calculations less cumbersome, scientists, engineers, and mathematicians have long used scientific notation to express large numbers. In the 1930s Professor Edward Kasner, an American mathemetician, was using numbers as large as 1 followed by 100 zeros (10¹⁰⁰). Writen this way, it does not look like a large number, but it is a very large number indeed. The combined total number of protons, neutrons, and electrons in the entire univers is only about (10⁸⁰).

Dr. Kasner felt that it would be good to have a name for such a round number to make it as easy to discuss as it is to write. He asked his then nine-year-old nephew Milton Sirotta to give him a name for the number 10¹⁰⁰ promising that he would use it in the future. Milton made up the word googol, and due to Dr. Krasner's promise, it has spread and been widely adopted by mathematicians and scientists.

His nephew later created a name for a number represented by 1 followed by a googol zeros, calling it a googolplex, adding the ending -plex as it is used in words like duplex. As previously noted, the universe does not contain enough matter to write out a number as large as a googolplex.

Commentary:

Googol was chosen due to its mathematical meaning, its use (under a different spelling) as a popular web search engine, and its interesting origin. Sometimes technical people such as mathematicians, scientists and engineers have too much fun.

Sources:

- The American College Dictionary, circa 1944.
- Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, © 1956.
- Oxford Pocket American Dictionary of Current English, © 2002.
- The Merriam-Webster New Book of Word Histories, ©1991.
- "Cosmos" television series, by Carl Sagan.

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