THIS WILL ONLY WORK TODAY..

Don`t really know why but I have long been fascinated by numbers, which is strange because I was hopeless at it at school.  But in later life my enquiring mind has drifted into all kinds of subjects that I overlooked in my school days - things like astronomy, physics, art history and mathematics.   And it was in maths that I came across some remarkable facts about number 26.  Here are a few obscure ones:-

* Walt Disney has won 26 Oscars - the most ever.

* The number 26 appears only once in the entire bible;

*Theodore Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States;

*It takes 26 moves or less to solve a Rubik`s Cube;

*There are 26 red cards and 26 black cards in a deck of cards:

*There are 26 bones in a human foot.

.........and so on; there are more - I won`t bore you - but what is so very special about 26 is this - it is the only number in the whole panoply of numbers from one to infinity and beyond which is sandwiched between a squared number and a cubed number (25 = 5x 5; 27 = 3 x 3 x 3) and it was Pierre de Fermat - he of the famous last theorem - who not only discovered this fact but also provided a proof for it, which turned out to be infinitely more difficult than the fact itself. 

But more to the point - and the reason this post of mine will only work today - is because today we are 26 days away from the shortest day and the longest night of the year.  And if, like me, you happen to be a miserable old git, fed up with dark, the onset of `the season of goodwill` and clinging on to the earnest hope that we will come through this winter, have a vaccine and live happily ever after, then you will understand.

If not, you might reach the conclusion that I might be bonkers.  You might be right.

A LITTLE SELF-INDULGENCE

I`m never too sure what blogs are supposed to be used for. Wikipedia`s definition says:-

"Blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject such as food, politics, or local news; some function as more personal online diaries."

As you may have noticed, dear reader, mine tends to be used for a number of things - insightful commentaries on things that are going on in the world; rants against stupidity (normally associated with the antics of our politicians;) reminiscences over a long life full of experiences in places I have known and, of course, the fortunes of Southampton Football Club.

However, perhaps the time has come for me to use this blog to perform a vital function, one that is of crucial importance to the `senior citizens` of this world - namely, as nothing more than a reminder of things that may have slipped the memory.

It`s a sad truth that the older I become (three score years and ten are looming on the near horizon) the more I seem to forget things. I come upstairs for something and by the time I`ve reached the top, I`ve forgotten what it was. I can`t remember what amnesia means and quite often I can`t remember what it is I have forgotten.

For some time, something has been niggling away in the back of my mind about the number 26.

I knew I had read or heard about some unique property associated with 26, but I couldn`t recall what it was. I hate things like that, so I searched the internet without any luck (possibly because I wasn`t sure what to search for) and finally, in desperation, I stayed up until the early hours of this morning combing through my extensive and eclectic library until I found it

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What is so very special about 26 is this - it is the only number in the whole panoply of numbers from one to infinity and beyond which is sandwiched between a squared number and a cubed number (25 = 5x 5; 27 = 3 x 3 x 3) and it was our old friend Fermat, pictured above - he of the famous last theorem - that not only discovered this fact but also a proof for it, which turned out to be infinitely more difficult than the fact itself. So, 26 is, indeed, a very special number. Fascinating, isn`t it? But I expect you knew that anyway.

So, having recalled it to mind, having `blogged` it, I will know in future where to look should it slip my mind again. Maybe now I can also remind myself of the other things I have forgotten - prime numbers, perfect numbers, Pythagorean triples and other wonders of the elegant world of mathematics. Now, what was it I came upstairs for?

I bet Andrew Wiles doesn`t have these problems - have a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Wiles