"According to legend, the great ancient Greek mathematician Archimedes died as a result of being deeply engrossed in a mathematical problem. As the story is usually told, Archimedes did not hear the Roman centurion who had entered his house and who ordered him to stop working and identify himself. In frustration, the soldier ran him through with his sword."
—From Keith Devlin's The Math Gene: How Mathematical Thinking Evolved and Why Numbers Are Like Gossip, p. 131. New York: Basic Books, 2000. First pub. in Great Britain, 2000.

"There was this well-known, fabulously rich financier who had made so much money that neither he nor his family nor his heirs would ever be able to spend it all. In spite of his immense wealth he continued to be active, aggressively making more and more millions; according to him this was 'the only way to escape from reality.'"
—Anecdote told by American mathematician Philip J. Davis, from Rudolf Taschner's Numbers at Work: A Cultural Perspective, p. 153. Wellesley, MA: A K Peters, 2007. Orig. pub. in German, 2005.

"The interesting number paradox is a semi-humorous paradox that arises from attempting to classify natural numbers as 'interesting' or 'dull.' The paradox states that all natural numbers are interesting. The 'proof' is by contradiction: If there were uninteresting numbers, there would be a smallest uninteresting number—but the smallest uninteresting number is itself interesting, producing a contradiction."
—From "Interesting Number Paradox," Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia
Writing Rules for Numbers
From The Chicago Manual of Style, Copyright © 1982, 15th ed. 2003

1.a. (nontechnical) Numbers up to one hundred, round numbers into the millions, and numbers at the start
of a sentence are spelled out.
b. (alternative rule) Single-digit numbers (1-9) are spelled out. All other numbers are written with numerals.
2. Percentages are written with numerals, e.g., 50% or 50 percent.
3. Decimals where the quantity is less than 1.00 are written with a zero before the decimal point, e.g., 0.25.
4. Decades appear with the year followed by an "s," e.g., 1960s and '70s.
5. The full date is followed by a comma (,), e.g., June 5, 2009, was the company's fifth anniversary.
Links
Mathematical Horoscope. (humor) Are you an Areas or a Torus?
Palindromes. A palindrome is a word or sentence that reads the same backward and forward, e.g., "Madam, I'm Adam." There are number palindromes as well.
What's Special About This Number? Mathematically, of course.
Associations
Hindu-
Arabic
Numerals
or
Cardinal
Numbers;
Alphabet		 Roman
Numerals		 Ordinal
Numbers		 Word
Roots		 Days of
the Week		 Months
of the Year		 Western
Zodiac		 Chinese
Zodiac		 Tarot Other
0 Fool
beginnings		 empty, null, void, vacuum,
zero hour for military operations,
at 0 degrees Celsius water freezes
1
A		 I first
(1st)		 uni,
mono		 Monday
moon		 January
Janus,
2-faced/headed
Roman god of
gates, doors, &
beginnings		 Aries
the Ram
from 3/21		 Rat
smart,
opportunist		 Magician
creativity		 individual, unique, original,
unit (of 1 or many), primordial unity,
1st place, 1st class, dominance,
heaven ideogram (China)
2
B		 II second
(2nd)		 bi Tuesday
Tyr,
Norse god of
battle &
justice		 February
Februa (pl.),
Feast of Puri-
fication, 2/15		 Taurus
the Bull
fr. 4/21		 Ox
hard-working,
long-suffering		 High Priestess
enlightenment		 couple, friendship, partnership,
opposition, binary, duality,
double, twin, doppelgänger,
1/2, "Think twice," heaven-earth
or yin-yang ideogram (China)
3
C		 III third
(3rd)		 tri Wednesday
Germanic
god Woden
(Odin)		 March
Mars,
Roman god
of war		 Gemini
the Twins
fr. 5/21		 Tiger
brave,
suspicious		 Empress
female strength		 synthesis, 3 primary colors (blue, red,
yellow), three's a crowd, love triangle,
"Three strikes & you're out."

• Holy Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit)
• Moerae/Parcae goddesses—The Fates
(birth, life, death) of Greece & Rome
• Norns—Norse goddesses (Urdr, past;
Verdandi, present; Skuld, future)
• heaven-earth-man ideogram (China)
4
D		 IV fourth
(4th)		 quad,
quart(er)		 Thursday
Thor,
Norse god of
thunder		 April
Greek goddess
Aphrodite(?)		 Cancer
the Crab
fr. 6/21		 Rabbit
talented,
sensitive		 Emperor
male strength		 square foundation, routine,
4-leaf clover, 4 limbs, 4 seasons,
Gods of the 4 Directions (Tortoise,
Dragon, Phoenix, Tiger) (China),
homophone for "death" (Japan)
5
E		 V fifth
(5th)		 pent(a) Friday
Fria,
Germanic
goddess of
love		 May
nymph Maia,
Mercury's
mother		 Leo
the Lion
fr. 7/21		 Dragon
powerful,
flashy		 Hierophant
established teachings		 5-pointed star, occult pentacle,
5 senses, body (4 limbs & head),
the Pentagon, center, middle,
yin/yang-creates-5-elements
(metal, water, wood, fire, earth)
ideogram (China)
6
F		 VI sixth
(6th)		 hex(a) Saturday
Saturn(us),
Roman god
of planting		 June
Juno,
Jupiter's
consort		 Virgo
the Virgin
fr. 8/22		 Snake
artistic,
possessive		 Lovers
bloom of
1st love		 6-pointed snowflake, 6th sense (ESP),
Magen David (Star of David) of Judaism,
smallest perfect* number (1 + 2 + 3 = 6)
*First 4 perfect #'s: 6, 28, 496, 8128,
666 (Antichrist; sum of 1-36)
7
G		 VII seventh
(7th)		 sept(i) Sunday
sun		 July
(Gaius) Julius
Caesar, general
& statesman		 Libra
the Scales
fr. 9/22		 Horse
physically
strong,
foolish		 Chariot
movement		 7 days of the week, 7-year itch,
7 wonders of the world,
7 apertures of head,
7 Gods of Luck (Japan)
8
H		 VIII eighth
(8th)		 octa,
octo		 August
Augustus
Caesar,
1st Roman
emperor		 Scorpio
the
Scorpion
fr. 10/23		 Sheep
peaceful,
fickle		 Justice
karma		 octopus arms, spider legs,
8th chemical element oxygen,
symbol for infinity ∞, Magic 8 Ball

• Noble 8-Fold Path of Buddhism —
Wisdom: right understanding,
thought, Conduct: right speech,
action, livelihood, Concentration:
right effort, awareness, contemplation)
• 8 directions of heaven; 8 trigrams
x 8 = 64 hexagrams of I-Ching (China)
9
I		 IX ninth
(9th)		 novem September
was 7th month
in early Rome		 Sagittarius
the
Archer
fr. 11/22		 Monkey
energetic,
tricky		 Hermit
intellect		 9 planets of the solar system,
9 Muses—Greek goddesses,
cat has 9 lives, on cloud 9,
homophone for "pain" and
"suffering" (Japan)
10
J		 X tenth
(10th)		 dec(i),
deca		 October
was 8th month		 Capricorn
the Goat
fr. 12/21		 Rooster
protective,
predictable		 Wheel of Fortune
luck		 decade, 10 fingers for counting,
base 10 decimal system,
10 Commandments of Christianity,
cardinal-points-of-compass ideogram (China)
11
K		 XI eleventh
(11th)		 November
was 9th month		 Aquarius
the Water
Carrier
fr. 1/20		 Dog
loyal,
easily led		 Strength
willpower		 11th hour (last chance),
master "2" vibration in numerology
12
L		 XII twelfth
(12th)		 December
was 10th month		 Pisces
the Fish(es)
fr. 2/19		 Pig
confident,
lax		 Hanged Man
standstill		 dozen, 12 months of the year,
12 noon, stroke of midnight
13
M		 XIII thirteenth
(13th)		 Death
transformation		 Friday the 13th, 13 at Last Supper,
baker's dozen, puberty,
original 13 U.S. colonies
14
N		 XIV fourteenth
(14th)		 Temperance
management		 Valentine's Day (2/14),
14 Stations of the Cross of Christianity
15
O		 XV fifteenth
(15th)		 Devil
caution		 15 minutes of fame,
"Beware the Ides of March."
(Shakespeare's Julius Caesar)
16
P		 XVI sixteenth
(16th)		 Tower
new order
 Sweet 16
17
Q		 XVII seventeenth
(17th)		 Star
intuition		 Seventeen teen magazine,
St. Patrick's Day (3/17)
18
R		 XVIII eighteenth
(18th)		 Moon
deception		 U.S. legal adult age in many states
19
S		 XIX nineteenth
(19th)		 Sun
vitality		 Alpha-Omega (1-9) number,
19- x 19-line Go board game grid,
homophone for "repeated suffering" (Japan)
20
T		 XX twentieth
(20th)		 Judgment
responsiblity		 vernal (spring) equinox (approx. 3/20),
20-dollar bill, 20 Questions game,
20 digits for counting (fingers & toes),
base 20 Aztec system used for math
21
U		 XXI twenty-first
(21st)		 World
fulfillment		 summer solstice (approx. 6/21),
winter solstice (approx. 12/21),
U.S. legal drinking age in many states
22
V		 XXII twenty-second Wands (fire)
creativity		 autumnal equinox (approx. 9/22),
master builder "4" in numerology
23
W		 XXIII twenty-third Cups (water)
emotions		 Prime number that is composed of
2 consecutive prime* numbers.
*Can't be divided without a remainder
(excludes divisors +1, -1, & itself +/-).
24
X		 XXIV twenty-fourth Swords (air)
activity		 24 hours a day, 24/7
25
Y		 XXV twenty-fifth Pentacles
(earth)
material concerns		 Xmas Day (12/25),
silver wedding anniversary
26
Z		 XXVI twenty-sixth last letter of the alphabet
50 L fiftieth 50 U.S. states, golden wedding anniv.
100 C hundredth cent(i) 100-dollar bill, century,
centenarian (100-year-old person),
at 100 degrees Celsius water boils
500 D five-hundredth Indy 500 car race
103 M thousandth mill(i), kilo "A picture is worth a 1000 words."
1000 folded cranes for luck (Japan)
106 Roman numeral for million millionth mega, micro millionaire,
1000 x 1000 = 1 million
109 billionth giga, nano billionaire
1000 x 1000 x 1000 = 1 billion
2yyur