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Rotating Quiz #189

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swp

unread,
Jul 16, 2015, 7:35:54 PM7/16/15
to
This is Rotating Quiz #189.

The winner will be the first choice to set RQ 190,
in a manner of their choosing.

Please answer based only on your own knowledge; put all
of your answers in a single posting, quoting the question
before each one.

Answer slates must be posted by 6pm Philadelphia time
(GMT-4) on Thursday, 2015-07-23, which gives you 6 days
and some number of hours from the time of posting.

In case of a tie, the first tiebreaker will be who scored
on the hardest questions; and the second tiebreaker will be
who posted first.

have fun!

0. what is the name of the NASA probe that just flew by the dwarf-planet Pluto?
1. what is the name of the actor who is currently portraying the lead character in the BBC series Doctor Who?
2. the president of nintendo died at age 55 recently. what was his name?
3. what celebration feast marks the end of ramadan?
4. what show leads this year's emmy awards nominations with 24
5. what is e^(i*pi)+1=0 better know as?
6. rebecca romijn hosts a television show with rupaul on the gameshow network. name it.
7. 'jar of hearts' was the debut single for what american singer-songwriter?
8. siblings Kimberly, Reid, and Neil form what musical group?
9. what city will host the games of the xxi olympiad in 2016?

swp

Dan Blum

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Jul 16, 2015, 8:37:17 PM7/16/15
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swp <Stephen...@gmail.com> wrote:

> 0. what is the name of the NASA probe that just flew by the dwarf-planet Pluto?

New Horizons

> 2. the president of nintendo died at age 55 recently. what was his name?

Iwatu

> 3. what celebration feast marks the end of ramadan?

Eid

> 4. what show leads this year's emmy awards nominations with 24

A Game of Thrones

> 6. rebecca romijn hosts a television show with rupaul on the gameshow network. name it.

RuPaul's Drag Race


--
_______________________________________________________________________
Dan Blum to...@panix.com
"I wouldn't have believed it myself if I hadn't just made it up."

Mark Brader

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Jul 16, 2015, 11:25:37 PM7/16/15
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Stephen Perry:
> 0. what is the name of the NASA probe that just flew by the dwarf-planet Pluto?

New Horizons.

> 1. what is the name of the actor who is currently portraying the lead
> character in the BBC series Doctor Who?

Eccleston? I'm probably one or two behind.

> 2. the president of nintendo died at age 55 recently. what was his name?

Johnson.

> 4. what show leads this year's emmy awards nominations with 24

Game of Thrones?

> 5. what is e^(i*pi)+1=0 better know as?

The famous equation that links the 5 more important mathematical constants.

> 7. 'jar of hearts' was the debut single for what american singer-songwriter?

Swift? (I doubt it.)

> 9. what city will host the games of the xxi olympiad in 2016?

(After a long pause)
Rio de Janeiro.
--
Mark Brader | "You read war books -- people shooting each other,
Toronto | people bombing each other, people torturing each
m...@vex.net | other. I like to look at people doing, uh, naughty
| things to each other!" -- Ria, "Butterflies"

My text in this article is in the public domain.

Marc Dashevsky

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Jul 17, 2015, 1:35:41 AM7/17/15
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In article <04975736-dc50-4038...@googlegroups.com>, Stephen...@gmail.com says...
> 0. what is the name of the NASA probe that just flew by the dwarf-planet Pluto?
New Horizons

> 1. what is the name of the actor who is currently portraying the lead character in the BBC series Doctor Who?
> 2. the president of nintendo died at age 55 recently. what was his name?
> 3. what celebration feast marks the end of ramadan?
> 4. what show leads this year's emmy awards nominations with 24
Mad Men

> 5. what is e^(i*pi)+1=0 better know as?
-1

> 6. rebecca romijn hosts a television show with rupaul on the gameshow network. name it.
> 7. 'jar of hearts' was the debut single for what american singer-songwriter?
> 8. siblings Kimberly, Reid, and Neil form what musical group?
> 9. what city will host the games of the xxi olympiad in 2016?
Rio de Janeiro



--
Replace "usenet" with "marc" in the e-mail address.

swp

unread,
Jul 17, 2015, 11:41:43 AM7/17/15
to
On Friday, July 17, 2015 at 1:35:41 AM UTC-4, Marc Dashevsky wrote:
> In article <04975736-dc50-4038...@googlegroups.com>, Stephen...@gmail.com says...
> > 5. what is e^(i*pi)+1=0 better know as?
> -1

was the lack of spaces an issue? I did not mean to intentionally confuse you or anyone else with this.

swp

Marc Dashevsky

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Jul 18, 2015, 3:48:14 AM7/18/15
to
In article <7a081051-f9af-406e...@googlegroups.com>, Stephen...@gmail.com says...
I'm an idiot.

Gareth Owen

unread,
Jul 23, 2015, 2:11:37 AM7/23/15
to
swp <Stephen...@gmail.com> writes:

> 0. what is the name of the NASA probe that just flew by the
> dwarf-planet Pluto?

New Horizons

> 1. what is the name of the actor who is currently portraying the lead
> character in the BBC series Doctor Who?

Malcolm Tucker^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H
Peter Capaldi

> 2. the president of nintendo died at age 55 recently. what was his
> name?

Bowser

> 3. what celebration feast marks the end of ramadan?

Eid (Big Eid)

> 4. what show leads this year's emmy awards nominations with 24

Mad Men. It's usually Mad Men.

> 5. what is e^(i*pi)+1=0 better know as?

"The most beautiful formula in maths" (or some other variant)

> 6. rebecca romijn hosts a television show with rupaul on the gameshow
> network. name it.

Drag Queen Challenge

> 7. 'jar of hearts' was the debut single for what american
> singer-songwriter?

John Mellen Camp

> 8. siblings Kimberly, Reid, and Neil form what musical group?

Lady Antebellum

> 9. what city will host the games of the xxi olympiad in 2016?

Rio

swp

unread,
Jul 23, 2015, 11:23:02 PM7/23/15
to
On Thursday, July 16, 2015 at 7:35:54 PM UTC-4, swp wrote:
> This is Rotating Quiz #189.
>
> The winner will be the first choice to set RQ 190,
> in a manner of their choosing.
>
> Please answer based only on your own knowledge; put all
> of your answers in a single posting, quoting the question
> before each one.
>
> Answer slates must be posted by 6pm Philadelphia time
> (GMT-4) on Thursday, 2015-07-23, which gives you 6 days
> and some number of hours from the time of posting.
>
> In case of a tie, the first tiebreaker will be who scored
> on the hardest questions; and the second tiebreaker will be
> who posted first.
>
> have fun!

first, the expected answers.

> 0. what is the name of the NASA probe that just flew by the dwarf-planet Pluto?

new horizons

> 1. what is the name of the actor who is currently portraying the lead character in the BBC series Doctor Who?

peter capaldi

> 2. the president of nintendo died at age 55 recently. what was his name?

satoru iwata

> 3. what celebration feast marks the end of ramadan?

eid al-fitr

> 4. what show leads this year's emmy awards nominations with 24

game of thrones

> 5. what is e^(i*pi)+1=0 better know as?

euler's equation or euler's identity

> 6. rebecca romijn hosts a television show with rupaul on the gameshow network. name it.

skin wars [basically its painting on naked people.]

> 7. 'jar of hearts' was the debut single for what american singer-songwriter?

christina perri

> 8. siblings Kimberly, Reid, and Neil form what musical group?

the band perry

> 9. what city will host the games of the xxi olympiad in 2016?

rio de janeiro, brazil

and now for my attempt at scoring this.

name 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 total
---------- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -----
Dan B 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 4
Mark B 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 3
Marc D 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
Gareth O 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 4
---------- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -----
totals 3 1 1 2 2 0 0 0 0 3 12


the winner is Dan Blum! congratulations. RQ 190 is yours to do with as you please.

swp

Mark Brader

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Jul 23, 2015, 11:54:10 PM7/23/15
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Stephen Perry:
> > 5. what is e^(i*pi)+1=0 better know as?
>
> euler's equation or euler's identity

Oh? Let's see what Mathworld has to say about that. The page is:

http://mathworld.wolfram.com/EulerFormula.html

It says "the Euler formula, sometimes also called the Euler identity" is

e^(i*x) = cos x + i sin x

If you take the specific case of this formula where x = pi, *then* you
get the one that Stephen asked about, which to the best of my knowledge
has no name of its own.

I therefore submit that the two entrants whose answers were phrases
describing the formula should be scored as correct. Which, in Stephen's
notation, makes it:

name 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 total
---------- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -----
Dan B 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 4
Mark B 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 4
Marc D 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
Gareth O 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 5
---------- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -----
totals 3 1 1 2 2 2 0 0 0 3 14

or a clear win for Gareth.

(Posted and emailed.)
--
Mark Brader "Those who do not know USENET
Toronto are doomed to repeat each other."
m...@vex.net -- Erik Fair (after George Santayana)

swp

unread,
Jul 24, 2015, 12:00:30 AM7/24/15
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On Thursday, July 23, 2015 at 11:54:10 PM UTC-4, Mark Brader wrote:
> Stephen Perry:
> > > 5. what is e^(i*pi)+1=0 better know as?
> >
> > euler's equation or euler's identity
>
> Oh? Let's see what Mathworld has to say about that. The page is:
>
> http://mathworld.wolfram.com/EulerFormula.html
>
> It says "the Euler formula, sometimes also called the Euler identity" is
>
> e^(i*x) = cos x + i sin x
>
> If you take the specific case of this formula where x = pi, *then* you
> get the one that Stephen asked about, which to the best of my knowledge
> has no name of its own.
>
> I therefore submit that the two entrants whose answers were phrases
> describing the formula should be scored as correct. Which, in Stephen's
> notation, makes it:
>
> name 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 total
> ---------- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -----
> Dan B 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 4
> Mark B 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 4
> Marc D 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
> Gareth O 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 5
> ---------- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -----
> totals 3 1 1 2 2 2 0 0 0 3 14
>
> or a clear win for Gareth.
>
> (Posted and emailed.)


see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euler%27s_identity

swp

Gareth Owen

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Jul 24, 2015, 2:12:03 AM7/24/15
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swp <Stephen...@gmail.com> writes:

> see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euler%27s_identity

"A poll of readers conducted by The Mathematical Intelligencer in 1990
named Euler's identity as the "most beautiful theorem in mathematics"."

swp

unread,
Jul 24, 2015, 3:30:46 PM7/24/15
to
and so it is.

+1 for Gareth. which gives him a clean win. congratulations. rq 190 is yours to do with as you please.

swp

Mark Brader

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Jul 28, 2015, 1:45:07 AM7/28/15
to
Gareth Owen quotes Wikipedia:
> "A poll of readers conducted by The Mathematical Intelligencer in 1990
> named Euler's identity as the "most beautiful theorem in mathematics"."

I was curious enough about what was actually asked to pursue this.
For example, were readers allowed to choose freely between all
theorems or were they given a list of candidates? Was the theorem
referred to by the alleged name of "Euler's identity" or was it
described, as by giving the equation?

The answers are that there was a list, and this and most of the other
theorems were given as equations or similar, not by name. The equation
in question was actually given in the form e^(i pi) = -1, and no name
for it was given.


The poll was actually in the fall 1988 issue (at pages 30-31) of the
Mathematical Intelligencer; the *results* were published in 1990
(summer issue, pages 37-41). It was conducted by David Wells, a
writer who, according to his author-blurb in the results article,
"won a scholarship to Cambridge University, England, but then failed
his degree, a rare achievement".

The 1988 article, the poll itself, is available online only behind a
paywall. However, courtesy of a friend at a university library, I have
now seen it. Wells began by quoting six writers on the subject of
beauty or esthetics in math: Aristotle, Hardy, von Neumann, Poincare,
Weyl, and Morris Kline. He then said:

| Beauty does seem to be an essential, if little discussed, aspect
| of mathematics and the work of mathematicians. Yet no one can say
| precisely of what beauty in mathematics consists, and professional
| mathematicians will not necessarily agree on their definitions
| of mathematical beauty, on their practical judgements of which
| theorems, proofs, concepts, or strategies are the most beautiful,
| or on the role their personal feelings for mathematical beauty
| play in their own work.
|
| This questionnaire is a simple attempt to gather some data...

He provided a list of 24 theorems and asked readers to photocopy the
page and send it in, rating the beauty of each one on a scale from
0 to 10. He also invited comments.


The paper with the full results *is* available online; see:

http://www.gwern.net/docs/math/1990-wells.pdf

To summarize, he received a number of responses with many identical
responses of either blank, 0, or 10; ignoring these for purposes of
tabulation, there were 68 usable ones. The average scores of the
24 theorems varied from 3.9 to 7.7. And the top 10 most beautiful
theorems, the ones scoring 6 or higher, were:

[1] e^(i pi) = -1
[2] Euler's formula for a polyhedron: V+F = E+2
[3] The number of primes is infinite.
[4] There are 5 regular polyhedra.
[5] 1 + 1/2^2 + 1/3^2 + 1/4^2 + ... = pi^2 / 6
[6] A continuous mapping of the closed unit disk into itself
has a fixed point.
[7] There is no rational number whose square is 2.
[8] pi is transcendental.
[9] Every plane map can be colored with 4 colors.
[10] Every prime number of the form 4*n + 1 is the sum of two
integral squares in exactly one way.

If this is interesting to you, you should certainly read the results
paper, which contains several interesting comments about what factors
contributed, or might have contributed, to people's judgments.

Two interesting points about the equation in question. First,
Wells wondered if people rated it highly because it was well known to
have been described as beautiful. And second, two readers suggested
that if the equation in question was given in the form that Stephen
used -- e^(i pi) + 1 = 0 -- then it would be even more beautiful.
To which Wells responded by asking whether a "small and 'inessential'
change" can affect a theorem's esthetic: "How would i^i = e^(-pi/2)
have scored?", he wondered.

--
Mark Brader | "What a strange field. Studying beings instead of mathematics.
Toronto | Could lead to recursive problems in logic."
m...@vex.net | -- Robert L. Forward (The Flight of the Dragonfly)

Erland Sommarskog

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Jul 28, 2015, 3:43:39 PM7/28/15
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Mark Brader (m...@vex.net) writes:
> The 1988 article, the poll itself, is available online only behind a
> paywall. However, courtesy of a friend at a university library, I have
> now seen it. Wells began by quoting six writers on the subject of
> beauty or esthetics in math: Aristotle, Hardy, von Neumann, Poincare,
> Weyl, and Morris Kline. He then said:
>

Poincaré? Raymond Poincaré? OK, looking in Wikipedia, I assume this was
Henri, but he was a cousin of Raymond. I've been reading a very interesting
book recently where Raymond Poincaré is one of the main culprits, hm, actors
in the big disaster.

Anyway, the much more important question is when RQ 190 will be up. Gareth,
you did not just make a temporarily comeback, did you?

--
Erland Sommarskog, Stockholm, esq...@sommarskog.se

Gareth Owen

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Jul 28, 2015, 5:59:15 PM7/28/15
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Erland Sommarskog <esq...@sommarskog.se> writes:

> Anyway, the much more important question is when RQ 190 will be
> up. Gareth, you did not just make a temporarily comeback, did you?

It'll be up tomorrow. It would be up now, except I left the sheet of
paper with the questions on at work.

Why do I find writing a quiz so much easier with pen & paper?
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